Those Red Haired Friends of Mine
by bluebookbutterfly
Summary: Scarlett has always had a crush on Fred Weasley. She is best friends with him, though, so when evil cousins, a depressed mum and teenage drama get into it, while they still get together? UPDATED! CHAPTER 13 !
1. We Just Bumped Into Each Other

Scarlett! WAKE UP!"yelled my mother, right into my face. She was so close I could smell her peppermint vanilla perfume. She dangled my brand new school robes into my face and tried to simultaneously pour a glass of freezing water on my face, to wake me up, looking very comical. I pretended to ignore her, even though I almost burst with laughter. "Scarlett, darling, you need to hurry up. If your aunt arrives before you're dressed she'll have both of our heads."

I opened my eyes blearily, like a cat, and smiled at the pale, red haired woman who was now attempting to dry the robes she had accidently got wet in the comical wake up appearance that had if only partially, succeeded. I was getting ready to go to Hogwarts. My mom was really happy that I was a witch. She was a Squib and we thought my dad was a Muggle so when I got the letter of acceptance she almost cried with elation. It was also her idea to send my aunt, who was the only real witch in the family who didn't live miles away in Sweden, to say goodbye to me at the train station. Well, it wasn't like my mom wasn't very persistent, usually she'd have me out of bed by dawn just to let me get ready. But this time I had told her that I wanted to have a nice _full _night of sleep before the big day.

So I got out of bed, took a quick shower, I'd forgotten to the night before, and then dressed in black skinny jeans, a blue t-shirt and a navy blue sweatshirt. In case you still can't tell, I love the color blue…like LOVE it. Then I began to pack: another thing on the long list of things I should have down already, luckily I'm an expert at just tossing all the odds and ends I could find that might be of use into my small, blue, suitcase. Swiftly, after looking in the mirror for the first time that day, believe me I got quite a shock…I brushed my curly-wavy strawberry blond hair and used a little mascara to accidently stab myself into the eye repeatedly. Some blue eye shadow and some strawberry vanilla scented lip gloss to spice up my face and that part of getting ready was done. A bite out of a bagel, I wasn't very hungry, no one is when they're extremely excited, and then I was ready.

My aunt was already there in her long layered skirt and her frayed hand knitted sweater with her bright green spectacles balancing precariously on her long nose and she looked livid, when I ran downstairs with all my things including my dwarf owl, Indigo. Indigo was incapable of carrying so much as a paperclip from here to the other side of the room without crashing into at least one extremely valuable item but had luckily made it this far. After many kisses and good byes, mostly from my mom and my step dad, my aunt told me to grip her arm and we apparated to the train station, to platform 9 ¾. I had to apparat alongside her; it makes me feel nauseous and dizzy.

When we arrived there with my aunt was still clutching my hand firmly when my eyes met with the liquid chocolate ones ( I know it sounds cheesy but they were) of a similar aged, ginger haired boy who was standing apart from a very large family of at least five. It looked like his family, because they all had bright red hair and was slightly taller than Scarlett's family. As our eyes locked the boy seemed to challenge me and glanced at the barrier between the platform and the Hogwarts Express station. Concurrently, both the red head and I began running straight at platform 9 ¾ holding onto our trolleys. I barely beat the boy to the platform and when I got there, seconds before him, he ran right into me and pushed my trolley.

"Whoopsidaises! Oh dear, I'm SO sorry." He said sarcastically in a falsetto voice. He grabs Indigo's cage and runs away, sticking his tongue out at her. I looked at him enraged and ran after him through the barrier.

"Whoopsidaises? Is that the best you can come up with? Come here you, hooligan!" I shouted after him. Many heads turned in our direction. Imagine this, a girl holding onto her trolley tightly and a boy a couple meters ahead of her laughing and swinging around a cage with a trapped poor innocent little elf owl in it. That's what all the people around us were so curious about.

"Scarlett!! Come here at once! The disgrace…"her aunt barked after her looking angry and slightly flustered.

"Fred?! George!? I'm so ashamed of you. Percy in his first year as prefect and all, this could ruin his reputation, kindly stop the nonsense," the plump ginger woman shouted at him. She too looked like she had been doing this for a long time and was used to such unruliness.

"I'm George! I've been standing here the last five minutes mother. Geez! Can't you, as our mother, at least tell us apart? Just because I had to clean up Ginny's robes, because of the owl droppings Fred and me put there. Now I'm starting to wish I'd run off with the girl, too," said the indistinguishable ginger haired twin and then realizing what he said blushed.

The little red haired boy and his younger sister giggled. The two of us runaways were back by then. I was so out of breath. Luckily I still had enough strength to grab Indigo's cage and lightly push Fred over. I apologized profusely to Fred's mother and my aunt and they were fine. Unfortunately for me, my aunt still had enough time to give me a hand knitted sweater with a princess on it!

After boarding the train I began to search for a compartment. I was still really angry at Fred so even though he was probably the only person I knew on the train I still didn't want to sit anywhere near him. I had to clean Indigo's cage and I had to calm the poor thing; the innocent owl was quite ruffled up and frazzled by now, so I chose not to sit anywhere near him. I was still unsure what about that boy, Fred, had intrigued or perhaps inspired me to race through the barrier with him. Anyway as soon as I found an emptier compartment I went into. There were already two occupants in the compartment a shallow skinned, black haired boy and a greasy blond haired girl.

"Hello my name's Scarlett. What are your names?"

"I'm Theodore Lestrange. You a pureblood?"

The greasy haired girl said nothing. I blushed deep red; the reason for my nickname Scarlett; no one ever called me my real name: Gwyneth Cleopatra. I mean who in their right mind calls their daughter Gwyneth and then gives her an even more humiliating experience by calling her Cleopatra,too ? Of topic, anyway, I had blushed because I wasn't a pureblood at all, I might as well have been a Muggle with a non witch mother and a father who had left before I was even born.

"No, I'm not, I'm muggleborn. So what? Are you excited? What house do you want to be in?" I replied in my very stoic, stubborn; don't care what you think manner. I tried to smile at the girl. She gave me a cruel look that clearly showed what she thought of me. _Mudblood._ Both of them were giving of some very nasty vibes, so I was just getting up to leave when two very familiar red heads showed up.

"Hello Lestrange, Parkinson," said George or maybe it was Fred,giving both of them curt, disdainful nods. Then,both of them looked at me standing there, curious and sort of elder brotherly,they directed their eyes at me and then to my other two companions. I went with them. Call me wimpy. I didn't mind; I'd much rather be in the company of two nice boys than in the company of anti-muggleborns.

"Sorry," Fred whispered in my ear. Don't worry I'm not psychic, I just knew it was Fred because George wouldn't want to apologize to me.

"Aaww! It's so cute-young love,"sighed George,"I think I'm going hurl."

I shoved him over, and with Fred's help I managed to push him into the nearest compartment. Then, we sat down and started to talk. There were two other people in this compartment, too. The twins introduced them to me as Lee Jordan and Katie Bell. Then I explained to them why I was in the muggleborn hater compartment. When I had finished George asked me a sincere question. Weird I know.

"If you're muggleborn then why could your mum go through the barrier? Only witches and wizards can go through the barrier."

"Oh that wasn't my mum, it was my aunt. My mother's a Squib and my dad left before I was born. My mum didn't want to have me-I was a mistake. My stepsiblings make sure to mention that whenever I bug them."

We continued to chat till we arrived at Hogwarts several hours later.


	2. The Hat Decides

**A/N: I hope you liked chapter 1. It was my first chapter ever so please Read & Review! If you're already here (Chapter 2) pretty please with a cherry on top, review the last chapter. Thanks-by the way I don't care if your reviews are positive or negative. In fact, I rather prefer negative to give me ideas on what to improve on. I also know that my ideas for the layout of this chapter kind of mimic those of Harry's Sorting.**

**DISCLAIMER: I am not J.K. Rowling. If I were what would I be doing here... I mean she killed Fred (I don't ever intend on killing him, even metaphorically). My only characters are the OCs you have never ever heard of before. The Sorting**

**Hat Song was written by HyppolytaSnape luvsAdamLambert who wrote it for her miraculous story A Secret From Truth. (read and review it). The name Nina (last person to be sorted) came from the ever so talented and awesome author**

**fireisprettybeafraid. Now I think that covers it....**

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**CHAPTER 2: THE HAT DECIDES.....**

Slowly, the hours passed by and the train came closer and closer to Hogwarts. Smiling, a dimpled women slid open the door of our compartment and asked whether we wanted any sweets. I bought a handful of chocolate frogs and some licorice wands and when I caught Fred, or maybe it was George, looking at some cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties, I eagerly bought them some, too. Later on I tried to peer out the window to catch my first glimpse of the supposedly magnificent school, but sitting nearest to the door didn't help. In the end, I had to get Lee to scoot by knocking him over only too gently-he was sleeping and snoring really noisily, so George felt I was doing everyone a favor. Lee woke up, but oh well, we had just been told to change into our school robes anyway, so there wasn't any real harm done.

I had changed into my robes an hour early, so I was just staring out the window watching as the clouds darkened and signaled a down pour of rain, when suddenly I saw the school. It was huge! Like really, really big! I felt a great leap of excitement when I realized it was my school. It had a castle with towers and a large oak door. Wondering why Muggles didn't notice it I leaned over to Lee, he had changed back into his robes and was snoring again, and whispered "I'm going to get you…don't worry…I know where you live…" in his ear in the most eerie voice I could make. He woke up shouting and then swore at me loudly in such a rude and vulgar way that, had his mother been listening, she would have wished to become swallowed up whole rather than endure the humiliation of claiming him as her son. Me? I just cackled evilly. Our whole compartment started laughing and even Angelina Johnson, a girl who was in the compartment right behind us smiled, amused.

We filed out of the train leaving our luggage behind us and then began walking towards a gigantic, bearded, hairy man who was gruffly shouting "Firs' years! Firs' years over here. C'mon follow me and mind yer step, now, it's very we'."

It was very dark when the man began to walk with all of us shivering soaked first years along a narrow path with trees all around, till we came to the edge of a great pitch black lake. On the opposite side of the lake perched the castle with its shining windows and its towers and turrets. The man told us his name was Hagrid and that we would cross the lake in the small of fleet of small rowboats that were clustered near the perimeter of the lake. Katie, Angelina and a thin girl called Alicia Spinnet and I all went into one of these small rowboats till we arrived at the castle.

When we arrived, a tall, majestic, stern woman with spectacles sitting on her nose came to welcome us and explain the Sorting. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and told us to wait a little while longer to be sorted, then, she left. I got nervous and started to twist around and around the thin braid I had made myself. _I hope this isn't an exam, what happens if I fail and get put into Slytherin….or maybe we have to do magic. Lee had mentioned some sort of initiation. _Needless to say I wasn't the only one who was worried about the one thing Professor McGonagall had failed to give much detail on. Other students were talking quietly and many pupils were chewing on their lips. Fred and George looked calm, another benefit of a large family with generations of wizards.

"The majority of the students have settled down and we are ready to sort you. The sorting will take place in front of the whole school. For those of you who are muggle born, don't worry, I will explain. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. While you are at this school you will be in only one of these houses. At the end of each year there is an award that is given to the House with the most house points. House points will be awarded for improvement and triumphs throughout the year and can be taken away for misbehavior or rule breaking. I sincerely hope that you will do your House justice and will exhibit exemplary behavior. Now that I think of it, I would recommend trying to smarten yourselves up and do try to make your selves presentable."

Several minutes later Professor McGonagall came back and brought us into the Great Hall. Four large magnificent tables were set up for each of the houses and at the very end of the hall stood a table for the teachers. But the only thing that seemed relevant to me was the hat. Right in front of the teachers' table stood a stool with a tattered witch hat on it. The professor led us up to a small area right in front of it and then we waited. The hat had many patches on it and then, I know this sounds crazy, but it's all true, it opened its mouth and began to sing in a hearty, merry yet slightly croaky voice. Exactly how I had imagined a hat to sound when singing. Not that I had ever spent much time hallucinating about singing… though I did have a dream once... This is what the witch hat began to sing…

_Your first lesson at Hogwarts_

_Comes as soon as you step through the door_

_I am obliged to tell you now_

_A true story of our founders four_

_Four greatly knowledged in our magic arts_

_Became friends, perhaps winning each other's hearts_

_Rowena Ravenclaw, wise and fair_

_Godric Gryffindor, strong and brave_

_Salazar Slytherin, to cross him no one dared_

_Helga Hufflepuff, the innocent she did save_

_They decided to join arms_

_Calling students from near and far_

_However trouble did arise_

_For most muggle-borns were quite alright_

_But by Slytherin they were despised_

_Leaving his friends he fled in the night_

_To sort the children is my duty_

_I was swept from a shelf quite sooty_

_And here I am._

This traditional song received tumultuous, rapid applause till Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly and a ghostly silence fell in the great hall. Many translucent and horrific yet amazing silvery translucent ghosts flew through the hall. One had chopped of his head, but only partially so that it hung like a loose tooth, another looked like it jumped out of a blood and gore horror movie and several old fashioned dressed and pale witches came past. We all gasped and oohed and aahed.

Again, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly and the hall became victim to another awkward, yet short, silence.

"When I call your name please come up here and try on the hat. Adler, Quincy!" she said loudly and motioned to a tall boy to sit on the stool and wait for the hat to decide what House he best fit. He looked shy and had pitched black hair that he had styled up in spikes. We sat there for only a millisecond when the hat exclaimed loudly….

"RAVENCLAW!"

The boy scurried off, his face red and full of relief. He ran off so fast that he was sitting at the left most table when he realized he was still wearing the hat. Blushing furiously he returned the hat to the stool and ran to his House, where the students were all applauding and introducing each other

"Blakely, Stella"

A pigtailed girl with startling green eyes like a cat hurried up to the stool and pulled the hat onto her head. It slipped almost to her nose and then it waited. Finally, after what seemed like the longest period of time, but could only have been a couple minutes, the Sorting Hat opened its "mouth" and exclaimed….

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The red and gold mass of students sitting at the table to the right up heaved and applauded as the girl took off the hat and skipped over.

"Lestrange, Theodore!"

The shallow, jerk faced boy whom I had met in the compartment rushed forward and put on the hat. A moment's pause….

"SLYTHERIN!"

After what seemed like a boatload of waiting the number of students left to be sorted began to thin till I was one of the only people other than the Weasley twins and an un believably short girl. Finally, Professor McGonagall called Fred Weasley up. What house did he, obviously, get sorted into?

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat announced.

"Weasley, George." Professor McGonagall said loudly even though her voice was slightly worn out.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Winterbourne, Scarlett." I moved forward slightly nervous, with butterflies in my stomach, yet excited and glad to get sorted. I sat down on the stool, gripping my hands together slightly in my lap and gently slipped the hat onto my head. Suddenly I was hearing voices. Or rather, a voice.

"Intelligent? Yes. Cunning and brave, yet not unable to put up a fight. Stubbornly persistent, yes, but not that annoying. Noble and willing to work hard for greatness." The voice whispered ever so quietly to me or rather to my brain…

_Oh boy…If I'm not in Gryffindor I'm going to kick this hats butt or rather his brim. NOT THAT ANNOYING! I'll show him annoying… _I thought to myself. The hat chuckled gleefully.

"GRYFFINDOR!" I sprung up giddy with joy and put the hat down. Then, I ran over to the table and sat next to the girl who had been sorted earlier, Stella. I watched as Professor McGonagall called forth the last student, a girl called Nina and as she was sorted into Hufflepuff.

A tall boy with flaming red hair introduced himself rather pompously. It was Percy Weasley, the prefect whom Mrs. Weasley was yelling about. I asked Percy a question about the class Transfiguration and he began to fill me in on just about everything from aardvark transfiguration to the use of yak's milk in the Defeating Draught. I must say I started to ignore him after the first twelve text book recited paragraphs. Anyway I began to ignore him… I grinned to myself when Percy asked whether I was listening about ten minutes later. Fred caught me grinning and raised his eyebrows slightly. Just enough for me to see his two light brown eyebrows go up, but little enough so that Percy, who was still droning in my ear, wouldn't notice. I kicked him.

**A/N: Please review mine and let me know what you think. I know I messed up at the end of the last chapter and wrote letter and they instead of later and we. Originally, this story was in third person but then I changed it. Do you think I**

**relationship... like she likes another character and then Fred but then George is jealous or whatever... I AM YOUR SLAVE! Not really but u know what I mean....btw i know I skipped part of the sorting... thats why I wrote FINALLY... I didn't**

**feel like thinking up a million names... ALSO: Should I write the next chapter as being the next day or as two or three years later? Please let me know ASAP so that I can start writing. Also: do you think I should have this be a FRED/OC**

**romance right away or should it be a building thing....like she likes someone else, then Fred, but George gets jealous... yada yada..**

**~bluebookbutterfly (yep thats my name...no comment at all!)**


	3. The First Day

**A/N: Thank you SO much to ****fireisprettybeafraid, ****you are and remain the only person to review my writing. I'm sending you chocolates…… (YA! you get chocolates.)**

**By the way to all of those who are just reading it… (I know there are at least 10.) I won't write more till you review.**

**Chapter 3: The First Day**

"Bloody hell! Get off me! What time is it? Are you barking mad?" screamed Alicia as we stared down at her tired face. We looked down at her. She looked like a sleeping angle despite her furious face and her pumpkin juice drenched pajamas.

The reason for her drama was the time. It was 5:45 AM and we (Katie, Stella, and I) were standing above her and pouring ice cold pumpkin juice on to her face. This was partially 'cause we were bored, Stella and I knew each other and had gotten up extra early to chat and paint our nails. It was also because of something Alicia did the night before. After the feast we had talked forever and had ended up betting Alicia 5 Sickles if we managed to wake her up before 6. She sleeps like a rock so Stella ended up using an Arousing Charm her brother had taught her as well as pumpkin juice.

"Not barking mad I'm afraid… maybe clinically….. What 'bout you, Katie?"I said in a mockingly high and slow voice.

"The doctors say I'm just going through a…phase…"she said on cue, as she giggled and grinned down at the angrily awaking black haired angel below.

"But it's only 5:45 AM! Honestly, SCARLETT! - let me sleep and I'll give you 6 Sickles," said Alicia again….

"7 Sickles? Eight? I might be able to scrap up nine if you two… LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I don't know… what do you think Stella? As the eldest and most responsible…..HAHAHAHA!" Katie burst out in a fit of laughter after her attempt at absolute seriousness. Alicia couldn't help it and grinned. Then we sat down and began to play Truth or Dare till we got ready for the first school day.

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"Bloody hell!! I can't believe it! My aunt wants me to wear _this_ on my first day," I exclaimed as I examined the hand knit sweater with a glittery princess on it. _I mean I'm eleven years old. I might have liked the sweater when I was like five and had absolutely no fashion sense and my biggest dream was to become a princess and get rescued by a knight in shining armor on a pink glittering horse being. Nothing against my aunt and her knitting skills, but when I reexamined the sweater I noticed it was at least four sizes too big. Does she think I'm fat?_

"It's a gross exaggeration of one of the Weasley sweaters. Don't you think Katie?" Alicia asked as she came out of the bathroom.

I slipped in and showered quickly. I put in my contact lenses clumsily and stared into the mirror at my honey brown eyes, my braces and the red blond curls that framed my face and stopped around my chin. I sighed, wishing my hair was longer and I could french braid it or make a side ponytail like I used to. Sadly though, it was short- thanks to my brother and a small argument over gum that had not ended out well on my half. Therefore I just brushed my hair lightly and added a barrette. Then I applied some lip gloss, skipping the eye shadow and adding a little mascara. I pulled on my Hogwarts robes and went down the stairs from the dormitory into the common room. The bottom of the stairs were shimmering in a light green color and it looked to me like someone aka Fred and George had poured gnome saliva over it in a miserable attempt at a prank. Gnome saliva was extremely sticky and smelled nasty after a few hours so it would have been the perfect trick. Luckily, the original four founders had decided that the girls could be trusted to go into the boys dormitory where as the boys couldn't get into the girls. I'm not sure what prevented them but I thought my mum mentioned that it involved a lot of slipping and pain. Anyway, maybe she was wrong.

When Stella and Alicia were ready and we had wasted a lot of time and decided Katie could catch up, we went down to the Great Hall. The Fat Lady and her friend violet had dozed off after countless bottles of wine to celebrate the new first years and were muttering drunkenly. When we entered the Great Hall I was surprised to find it not as festive as it had been the previous night. The four tables were still there, but they were not decorated with banners and the festive food too had vanished to become replaced with all sorts of breakfast foods such as sausages, scones, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, various marmalade, muffins, pastries, cereals and a variety of teas.

I sat down next to George and Fred and stole a piece of toast from Fred or George's plate. Promptly, while Fred or maybe George was talking to Lee, I stole his strawberry marmalade. After spreading my piece of toast with strawberry jam thickly I set them down.

"Oi! You, there! I was using that." Fred or George, I still can't tell them apart, shot at me narrowing his eyes.

"Sure you were. You weren't WAY to busy talking with Lee to even notice that I put bubotuber pus on your toast instead of jam."I said laughing as Fred or George's eyes, bulged out, glanced at the toast and then glared at me maliciously. Katie and Alicia cracked up. "By the way even a birdbrain like you should have realized my name is Scarlett… not you!"

"If you weren't a girl….."He said threateningly as his eyes flashed.

"What? If I weren't a girl I wouldn't have dared to get near your toast?" I rolled my eyes and slowly began chewing my toast. Fred landed a light punch near my shoulder. I slugged him back in the shoulder. He stared at me his eyes watering in pain.

"Yeah, Alicia, if Scarlett weren't a girl…"said Katie, "Oh by the way, thanks Scarlett."

"No problem. Wait what?" I said slowly as Alicia and Stella grinned at my self confidence.

"It looks like we can finally tell the twins apart now..."

Have I ever told you I have the devils luck? Sure I just managed to wound a guys pride and prove that no I'm not a wimp… yet no a dark shadow is cast over me. Quite literally. Professor McGonagall's towering figure looked even more threatening in emerald green robes as she cast her catlike austere eyes at us goofing off.

"I hope you're just as eager in Transfiguration as you were just now, Miss Winterbourne. These are your class schedules."

Surprisingly, after she had given us our schedules and as she left I felt sure I caught a glimpse of a smile cross her stern face. Anyway I turned around and gazed at the parchment she had given us.

"Potions is first and then Transfiguration and tomorrow we've got Herbology and History of Magic. What have you got, Stells?" I said peering over her shoulder and reading an identical schedule.

"I think we all got the same one. Right? Transfiguration, Herbology, Flying and Charms are the only classes we've got with Hufflepuff… and we've luckily only got Potions and Astronomy with the Slytherins."

"What! Hold your horses! We've got flying?" I shrieked enthusiastically, so loud that several people stared at me, like I was the one who was crazy.

Stells nodded and groaned. She couldn't fly at all. I used to come over to her house often so that we could hang out and practice playing Quidditch. Her brothers had two beautiful Cleansweep 260s that I always borrowed. Stella knew how to fly but had never really mastered the whole landing without crashing thing. Luckily, as long as she was in the air she was really a great Keeper. Her little sister on the other hand was really good.

"You can fly?" I heard an all too familiar evil snarling voice as Theodore Lestrange came past. He looked at me spitefully.

"A Mudblood like her?!" said Lucia Parkinson, giggling like a hyena. "I thought you had to know how to do magic to stay on your broom."

Fred and George sprung into action. They looked scary now. It wasn't like earlier when Fred and George had glared at me. This time their eyes were like burning coals and they looked like they would beat him up. One of them, I think it was Fred, because of his bruised arm, used his leg to make Lucia bend over backwards while George pushed Theodore down. No way were they getting in trouble for that dung like Lestrange…

"You guys don't have to…. It's okay, I'll live," I said as I yanked George away from Theodore and Katie and a short girl from Hufflepuff pushed Lucie away from Fred's flailing and clawing arms.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for harassing of innocent students. Really I'd expect better behavior so early in term." Sneered a nasal voice as a greasy haired professor passed. It was Professor Snape and he was the Head of Slytherin House. Once again I've got the luck of the devil. "Not so fast you. Winterbourne, you've got a detention. In my office Monday evenings every week for let's say…. A month."

Fred, George and I opened their mouths to protest, but Alicia and Katie apparently knowing from experience, held their hands over our mouths. "No, you guys. Don't risk it. By the way thanks for your help. My name's Scarlett." I said directing my eyes to the Hufflepuff who had helped us.

"It is only your first day. You should know better than to fight with Slytherins. Anymore behavior like this and I'll have to tell your mother. It is my duty as a prefect," stated Percy in the most pompous matter ever. Honestly, I just wanted to punch him.

"Right now I want to fight with _you_," Fred muttered under his breath.

"My duty as a prefect is to be the most pompous arrogant arse in the whole building," said George mockingly as he stared at the back of Percy's head as it bobbed away.

I grimaced at it and then turned to Fred and George. I was shorter than them by a full head, but I was also positive that my growth spurt would catch up with me soon. Or at least I hoped...

"Great help you guys," I said sarcastically.

"You are soooooooo welcome," Fred gushed out in a girlie manner as if he didn't understand the great amounts of sarcasm laced between my every word. I rolled my eyes and then thanked the girl form Hufflepuff and asked what her name was.

"I'm Nina." She said dreamily as she skipped, yes she skipped, off. I turned to the twins and my newly acquainted friends and then I slowly went up the stairs to the common room.

_I haven't even had my first class and I already have detention for the month. Great! _I thought sarcastically._And to make it all better I have Potions with the Slytherins and Professor Snape next._ I groaned.

**A/N: So what do you think? Review! Let me know what you think ASAP. Even if you just write down that it sucks because of whatever here or there. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **


	4. Quidditch, Donuts and Pesky Brooms

**A/N: if you are reading this I would really appreciate you going to my profile page and answering the poll question. In case you are a lazy bum here goes the question…. Should I skip ahead a couple of months or years till the Fred/OC romance really happens? If so how many years or months? Please let me know what you think. I already skipped ahead in this chapter though. I can't give a day by day account. That would get really tedious.**

**Disclaimer: I would think this is obvious by now, but I am not J.K. Rowling and I don't own the Harry Potter book copyright: hopefully when J.K. Rowling dies (not too soon though) she'll donate the copyright and let the whole wide world tinker around with her stuff. Muhahaha!**

**THIS IS TWO MONTHS LATER AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER. Around October or Novemberish.**

**Chapter 4: Quidditch, Donuts and Pesky Brooms**

_Hey Scarlett,_

_How are you doing? I sincerely hope the teachers are nice…. Do you have any friends other than Stella your ever faithful bookworm? Guess what? I bought the donut shop. I know you've been telling me to buy it since last summer but today Daniel and I went ahead and bought it. Now I kind of wish I hadn't- waking up at three in the morning just to make fluffy, sugar covered pastries can become exhausting. I've started selling those apple cinnamon rolls you made and they are a major success. I've got several regular customers already: your aunt, who comes every day and orders one of those maple bars which she then drenches in syrup, that nice old lady who you used to do the garden for and Mr. Gideon. As Alli would say, business is positively bombing! She misses you a lot by the way, love, and she told me if you don't write soon she'll send you a homemade Howler. I'm sorry though that you can't come home over Christmas, but your uncle's wife Isabella is pregnant and has invited us to go to Australia for the winter break. Love,_

_Mum _

Then the handwriting changed drastically. I recognized it as that of my BFF.

_Hi! What's so great in your life at crazy school that lets you positively ignore me? It's a trick question btw! If you don't send me a letter ASAP I'll get married to your brother(EEWWWWWW!) and then I'll strangle myself in my lace dress - you know the one Stella (who has sent me multiple letters detailing all the homework you get) bought be for my school dance. I might also make a howler. You know the way your aunt makes them with a little eye of newt and chocolate sauce. Stella's also sent me letters all about how you have a 'crush' on a certain ginger-haired set of twins. R u in love? Just kidding._

_Your worried (and possibly strangled) friend or maybe sister in law (once again, no offense but EEEW!) ,_

_Alli_

I sighed. Alli could become so dramatic at times. I still knew she was my best friend forever and ever though. Even though, or especially, because she was a Muggle. Stella, who was avidly writing a large essay on the uses of Belladonna in Potion making, glanced at me and raised her eyebrows. If she weren't so sweet and fragile I would probably have gotten into a row 'bout me having a crush upon the twins-which I didn't. I knew that Alli knew that, but sometimes it drove me crazy that Alli, of all people, would tease me over having friends who are boys. Gazing out of the window I saw Hagrid tell off some Slytherins for attempting to climb the Whomping Willow, which was draped with red, orange and yellow leaves, and the Gryffindor Quidditch Team practicing. Suddenly, I heard footsteps and laughter approaching and then I saw Fred, George and Lee entering the common room. They came closer and Lee even breathed down my neck as they grinned, innocently mischievous.

"I'm NOT talking to you!" I said clenching my teeth together and trying to hide my, only slightly, amused eyes behind my curly hair. Once again my short curly hair failed me. Curly hair can be extremely difficult to manage and was probably going to help contribute to my downfall some day. Just kidding, secretly I loved it.

"Come on: please? I'm sorry. I won't do it again," George said in a soft voice, muttering quietly "and get caught." I rolled my eyes, attempting to hide my grin and losing again.

"MY OWL IS PINK! My owl isn't supposed to be pink or have dimples in her face,"

"Why would you think it was us?"The twins said simultaneously. I hated it when they did that. It made it even more difficult to tell them apart.

"Your hands were pink! Why else would they be pink?! You're not allowed to use Indigo for your joke shop mail and stuff anymore. You're going to harm Indigo someday and I'm not paying medical expenses,"

"It looks like she caught you red-handed. Get it, Fred and George?" Lee said smirking stupidly.

"Real witty, Lee! I mean your hands were pink, too." Fred or George said extremely sarcastically, rolling their eyes.

Sighing, again, I turned back to my incomplete essay for Transfiguration. Secretly, it really didn't bug me that my owl was pink. I mean I really didn't like the color pink but that wasn't what annoyed me. Fred had ordered some type of dye like potion for one of the pranks and it had transformed my owl into a pink flattering thing. So when my owl swooped down and crashed into my face, completely overwhelmed holding a scroll of parchment with two letters (read above) scribbled on it, everyone in the Great Hall noticed and started laughing and making fun of poor innocent Indigo.

It bugged me that Fred and George could have and probably did read my letter. I mean now they think I like them! LIKE LIKE them! It was an inside joke between me and Alli, who missed me a lot, ever since she knew I could go to Hogwarts and she because she was a Muggle could not, that the boys didn't understand. But what would happen if it changed my friendship with the twins?

"C'mon… we'll take you to the Quidditch pitch and we can show you how to fly." Lee said teasing me because he obviously knew I kicked pure butt at Quidditch, especially Chaser.

"Okay! But I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the one teaching you how to fly!"

"You wish! I can fly better then you with my eyes closed and my hands tied." George or Fred said challenging me. Stella rolled her eyes and motioned toward the twins' big pile of homework that I just begun to tackle to weed out mistakes. I shrugged my shoulders and mouthed "later". She grinned and continued writing her essay.

"Cannot!"

"Can too!"

"Cannot!"

"Can too!"

"Cannot!"

"Can too!"

"Cannot!"

"Want to bet?"

"You're so on!"

We continued bickering till we got to the Quidditch pitch where we changed into Quidditch robes and started flying. The Gryffindor team had just finished up so, I borrowed a broom stick from Angelina, a tall black second year, who was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Off I went swooping high and low. I loved the feeling of adrenaline pumping, blood rushing through your veins and wind messing up my hair. Around that time the boys came out. That's another thing that always surprised me… how is it that boys take so long when changing? I mean they don't even have long hair to brush aside or makeup to apply or take off. Weird mental image, Fred, George and Lee wearing makeup. Sorry off track, again.

"Want to just use the Quaffle or do you want to play with the Snitch and the Bludgers, too? Charlie, the team captain and my second eldest brother, left the whole lot and we can use them as long as I bring them back."

"I'm for the Quaffle only, but then again that's because I play Chaser and find Bludgers and the Snitch a complete waste of time."

"Hey! Slow down! I and Fred are Beaters, so we need Bludgers to survive!"George said dramatically, acting as if I had stabbed him in the heart.

"Don't you mean Fred and I?"Lee said in a very Percy the prefect like manner.

"Whatever!"

"Don't whatever me!"

"SHUT UP, you two!" I said all but screaming at them. They grinned at me in that charming devil-may-care way that only the twins and Lee could pull off. We started to practice Quidditch. I'll admit it the twins were good Beaters and all, but Lee was a dreadful keeper. Every single time I got the Quaffle through the hoops he groaned again, while the twins saluted me with serious smiles plastered to their faces.

"Hey, you guys! Is Christmas at Hogwarts alright?"

"Yeah! The Christmas trees are magnificent and the Professors bewitch everything to look in holiday spirits. Even Peeves is relatively calm. In fact my elder sister said that he once-" Lee answered before he was cut off quite rudely by the twins.

"- But why?" the twins said in paranormal unison. Looking like they were up to something their chocolate brownie colored eyes met. If anyone tells them that I think thats their eye color I am so killing myself.

"I'm staying here over break- my family is going to Australia and they can't bring me along."

"Fred?" George said a quizzical yet bemused expression on his face. They looked like they were up to something but honestly; they always looked like that to me.

"George?"

"Do you remember us telling her that she was invited to spend Christmas with us?"

"Yeah, that one time or other-"

"WHAT!?" I shrieked making a victory dance standing on my broom. Trust me, now that I think about it, I wouldn't recommend dancing fifty feet above the ground on a piece of wood that was barely as thick as chair leg. Seriously, that wasn't one of my better moments. But it was too late. Down I went faster and faster. I crashed into something hard and suddenly everything became blurry around me, kind of like I'd lost my contact lenses. Shapes were moving around me and I heard muffled voices, talking in low concerned voices as my head and my right foot throbbed in pain.

"Owwww, that doesn't feel right…."I mumbled to myself unintelligibly as two completely identical worried faces gazed down at me. The smell of germicide and healing potions made me feel sick and I scrunched up my nose in frustration at clueing out where I was. Madam Pomfrey was walking toward the Weasley twins and said something that I didn't understand. Ah ha! So, I was in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. The red headed twins nodded and put a potion with purple vapors oozing out of it next to my pillow. One of them added a pinch of something and stirred it with his wand. Madam Pomfrey grimaced and then left to her office.

"Scarlett looks kind of cute when she scrunches up her nose like that. I mean just theoretically." One of them said. I closed my eyes even tighter to see what else they would say. Ooh! When I told Katie about this… they were so busted!

"Sure, just theoretically. You should feed her the potion now, though." The other said sarcastically and with emphasis on the word theoretically. I was going to kick his butt, big time. If only my foot and head didn't hurt so much I actually could. Wincing I turned slightly in the direction of one of the twins. My foot moved and I flinched. Kicking them wasn't going to work, at least not till my foot healed.

"Ooh! Look she's awake. She kind of looks like a cat when she opens her eyes don't you think, Stella?"Alicia said as my brownish eyes opened blearily, looking as Alicia said just like a cat, I turned to the twin.

"Kind of cute?! Theoretically!? George, you are so lucky my foot hurts like hell now or else I'd kick your ass right now."

"I'm Fred. Are you sure that your brain wasn't damaged in the fall? You can't even tell us apart anymore."

"You guys are identical twins. Emphasis on the word identical!"

Alicia and Stella giggled and I heard them mutter "she definitely doesn't have brain damage."

The read head advanced toward me holding the beaker of healing potion in front of my nose. It smelled fairly pleasant, but after two months of pranking and being pranked by Fred, George and sometimes Lee I knew better.

"Don't even think of getting that potion near me! I mean what happens if you're trying to poison me. Just thinking of the fact you stirred with your wand makes me freak out!"

"It's chocolate liquor. My mum sent it after she invited you for Christmas." Fred said.

I eyed the potion suspiciously and then took a super small sip. After deciding it was pretty good I drank the rest of it. Weirdly right after drinking it my foot began to tingle, just a little bit.

"So, what happened to me?"

"You fell off Angelina's broom right after the victory dance and George tried to catch you, evil handsome genius that he is, and he crashed into you sending you flying into the podium. So now you have a gigantic bruise at the back of your head and a broken leg."

"So I owe my miserable fate to George, the supposed, handsome," I coughed loudly after this to prove my point, "genius. What happened to the broom?"

"It survived and only has a few scratches."George said shooting me a glare with daggers in his eyes.

"Unlike you," Fred muttered "sadly, you survived."

"You know what? Maybe Stella and I should stop with all the pitying and let you guys copy your History of Magic notes of someone else," I said joking. I grinned when Fred and George put on shocked expressions and began to act. Almost immediately after smiling I wiped the rather excruciating smile of my face.

"So now we must listen rather than observe Professor Binns' eyebrows as they dance around on his ghostly forehead?"

"Oh no! George, what shall we do now?"

"Let us leave the company of this perfectly vile maiden,"

"Farewell!"

"Can I leave, too, Madam Pomfrey? Please?"I said in my ever so sweet teacher's favorite voice.

"Of course. As long as you check in with me every morning and evening for the next two days. You need to get your potion somehow. And here are some crutches. They are one of the few Muggle ideas I ever use." she said not unkindly, in a tone that implied how silly Muggles could be when it came to healing. Alicia and Stella got my school stuff and walked me out. What an image: two girls walking gracefully and one humpty dumpty girl on crutches.

**A/N: So what do you think? Actually, I really do want to know, so, review! Press that green button done there (I don't think it is green but according to someone else it is so here goes) OR ELSE my magical flying pink owl will attack you with donuts and chocolate potion. **


	5. Babbling Bat Hexes and Gnome Saliva

**A/N: Anyway, I hope this is a good chapter. I'm kind of stuck in a corner, figuratively, with my writing. I'm freaked out because I'm having idea overflow, have a really big math test coming up and am tackling a HUGE poetry unit in English… uggh… I mean I like poetry, but too much is too much. So here goes.**

**~passes around bowl filled with immense amounts of popcorn/kettle corn ~**

**Chapter Five: Babbling Bat Hexes and Gnome Saliva**

"See you soon, Scarlett. Bye!" Stella waved to me, her just-unbraided dark hair billowing beautifully under a hat, as I left the station and boarded the train, heaving a small backpack with clothes, and secretly, Christmas presents, for my stay at the Weasley house.

"Bye Stells!" said Fred or George, though it was impossible to tell in the rubble of noise and the chaos of half the school already in a holiday mood.

"Bye, Fred! George, wait! You forgot your hat...here," Stella said smiling at the twin.

"Stella, how can you tell them apart? They're identical!" I said doubtfully at her out of the window as the train advanced, slowly gaining speed.

"No, they're not! Fred has 15 freckles around his nose and cheeks, but George only has 12 maybe 13… and, besides one of them is taller! They also-"

Stella's last words were drowned under the noise of the train. I waved. Then I turned to the twins thinking to myself…. _Now, which one of them is taller?_ I looked at them both closer and then decided to think no more of Stella's observations…_I mean I've always known that she has psychic powers…_

The train ride to the platform and back "home" was shorter than last time, making absolutely no sense to me, because it was the same distance. Later on, shortly before arriving, Fred and George began teasing me, because I slept the complete length of the journey in a curled up position exactly like a rock.

"You guys… just because I prefer not to get my necessary eight and then some hours of sleep during classes doesn't mean I don't need my beauty sleep. You would know wouldn't you…?"

Rather depressingly, on their part, the two red haired indistinguishable boys in front of me spent several minutes trying to clue that out. Then Fred, upon comprehending, smiled, swishing his hair back in what was clearly an attempt at handsomeness. I rolled my eyes, all the way up and all the way down, in my inimitable signature eye roll. Charlie and Bill grinned, but ignored us and continued playing their game of Exploding Snaps. Percy looked at us, over the edge of his book in such a pretentious, know it all style that I closed my eyes, and imagined beating him up for just a couple of seconds. Percy and I don't seem to mesh well.

Fred looked at me like I was some sort of crazy person and was meditating after what seemed, to him, like a threatening experience, so I began to blackmail the twins, because I'm just that type of person.

"Do you want Christmas presents or not?" I said in a pissed off, fake, evil voice. The twins stared at me in mock outrage and then doubled back, putting on shocked expressions, surprised that I'd actually considered getting them anything. I smiled, letting the smile reach all the way up to my eyes, which I then closed again. Sadly, there were only a couple minutes , who had decided to drive me barmy as well, started to poke me in the shoulder and even though I tried to ignore him the time was already over.

When we exited the train and had finally heaved all our trunks down to the platform, Mrs. Weasley rushed over to us. Two younger children, a boy and a girl, accompanied her and looked up at the twins in an expecting and adorable look, like two children and a storyteller. Mrs. Weasley looked at me kindly, dimples and all and smiled warmly. She seemed, luckily, to be more of the forgiving type and if she remembered the first day she met me, she didn't say so.

"I'm so glad to have you here. Fred and George have told me so much about you, dear," she said in a sweet motherly as the boys gagged and blushed slightly.

"Not that much!"said George

"Mum!"said Fred blushing so red that his brilliant hair blended with his face. I smirked.

"You have!"Mrs. Weasley said clearly, looking at them doubtfully.

I rolled my eyes and stared at the boys like a lovestruck chicken for the rest of the journey, just to annoy them. Luckily, I wasn't required to talk a lot, because Percy managed to fill up the whole car ride, blabbing about an Exceeds Expectations he had got on a Charms exam and that Professor Flitwick refused to let him redo. It scared me a little how much he cared.

When we arrived, Mrs. Weasley magicked all the trunks into the house and told the twins to show me their room. The Weasley home was really the best family home I could imagine. The garden was a beautiful wilderness with flowers sprouting in unusual places including a Wellington boot and roguish gnomes lurking in shady corners ready to strike at any moment. Right now the grass was covered with a medium light layer of snow and the gnomes were shivering and blue. The house itself looked like many cottages stacked upon each other in a snaking fashion. I looked up, past the many colored window curtains and up the rickety pipes till I saw the roof, wobbly and blue tiled with several chimneys, like a little icing to the cake, err, house. Rusty cauldrons and even more old Wellington boots littered the steps by the back door and a gnome pointed its tongue at us rudely. Weirdly enough, I had a strange obsession with the little beasties, ever since Stella's uncle, Xeno, had pointed out that their spit was the main ingredient in making dung bombs.

Fred and George looked at me; four identical eyebrows raised as I crouched down and got the gnome to spit into a small potions flask, that I still happened to have on me (for various reasons unknown), by shaking its gnarly head from side to side.

"What?" I said, as I looked up at the twins, who had begun to whisper and were pointed at me with bemused expressions plastered on their equally "handsome" faces.

"_Why_ are you collecting gnome saliva?" they said staring at me like I was some random stranger.

"_Oh_…. You don't know?" I said looking at them like I was a popular person and was talking with someone who had just inquired what cool meant. Then, deciding not to be mean any further I told them, "Gnome saliva is used to make dung bombs and is makes the most perpetual stink known to man."

Fred and George looked at me, intellectual capacity dawning on them as they realized that I wasn't a complete loon. Grinning mischievously, (I mean how else would they grin after such a trouble making discovery?) the twins guided me through their all together cluttered (in a nice comfy way) living room and up to the second floor to their room.

Their room was medium small in size and had two beds to the side of each room. At the end of the room there was a large window, overlooking the small pond that was just outside, with gold curtains with patches and a couple of holes. The beds were covered with a simple bedspread and the walls were draped in scarlet and gold banners as well as an autographed poster of the Weird Sisters and various posters of Quidditch players. The last half square meter or so of space was filled by a desk and a cupboard that reeked of mischief and dung bombs and looked as if it currently contained some type of blue, gum like potion. The corner looked as if it had caught the Percy virus and was attempting to make the room look like it belonged to a pompous; know it all big head instead of two mayhem causing hooligans.

I grinned to myself, nodded at the boys, gave them the flask and then accompanied them downstairs where Mrs. Weasley was cooking soup. After asking her where my stuff was and where I would sleep, she replied sympathetically, apparently thinking I was homesick or something, that I would be sleeping in the same room as Ginny, the little girl from earlier. I climbed up the stairs again and slipped into the room, dug through my backpack and got out a glucose meter and an insert strip for the meter. Wincing slightly, I pricked myself with my lancing device and let the drop of blood from my calloused fingertips land on the tiny test strip. Then, I read the display. I let out a gasp of relief, my blood sugar was thankfully at a normal level, and turned around to find a small, freckled red headed girl staring at me.

"Why did you just prick yourself?" Ginny said looking alarmed and distressed, her eyes whipping around for help "Are you a vampire? Cause Fred and George said that people who drink their own or other people's bloods are always secretly vampires…"

"No, sweetie. Sooo like Fred and George to tell you that, however in this case I'm obviously not a vampire, though you can't exactly tell by my pale complexion… I'm diabetic. I was just measuring my blood pressure to make sure I'm okay."

"Oh! That's too bad. Do you like to play Quidditch?" Ginny said obviously getting comfortable as the conversation turned to something she could identify with. "I do... my favourite position is Chaser, but the boys never ever let me play. It's not fair, because I know I could whoop their butt if we ever played. "

"I play Chaser, too! We could probably beat them at Quidditch even if we had our hands tied behind our backs," I said, mentally laughing at what a chatter box she had become. She was sweet. "I love your room, by the way."

Her room was quite nice, the faded blue color of her walls tied in nicely with the worn, but still quite bright poster of Gwenog Jones of the Holyhead Harpies and another poster of the Weird sisters. The floor was covered in a navy and aquamarine blue woven rug that seemed to change design the longer you looked at it. I tore my eyes away. Next to her bed there was a small cot, presumably for me, that was covered by a patchwork quilt.

"Thanks. Do you support the Holyhead Harpies, too?

"Not really, I'm more of a supporter for the Puddlemere United… but my friends Stella, Katie and Alicia don't really agree with that…"

Ginny opened her mouth ready to debate something about the tactics, players and how the uniforms were better when I heard footsteps. Assuming it was either Fred or George, I pulled Ginny into a corner where they wouldn't see us and got ready to hex them. Ginny smiled up at me shyly and slightly unsure, but nevertheless pleased that she wouldn't become victim to a prank, again. I pulled out my wand; it was 12 inches long, made of a mixture of rosewood and ivy and contained a phoenix feather my great grand aunt's phoenix had given. It wasn't exactly in pristine condition. I had slightly broken of a chunk when I crashed down the Gryffindor common room stairs and splintered my finger, in an act of klutziness (trust me- I have them all the time).

Currently, however, the door flew open and someone walked in. Unfortunately, for the resident at the very least, I couldn't see them well so I assumed that, because the occupant was red haired; it must be Fred or George. Now that I remember, I'm pretty sure that in a house filled with only red heads that wasn't the best thinking. So, when I muttered the Babbling Curse I mispronounced and probably accented the wrong syllable leaving the person entering in a midway stage between the Babbling Curse and the Bat Bogey Hex. Therefore, _this person_ had large grotesque wings and was babbling: his tongue enlarged giving him the look of an overgrown bat that had been stung by a bee into the tongue…

It was Percy.

**A/N: YAY! Cliffhanger! I've done it! YAY! (I'm celebrating)…. Yes I know I haven't updated since….. I don't know when. To those of you who are saying: "Uggh! I hate this story…. Fred and the OC aren't even in love yet, yada yada" or whatever you're saying (and thinking) please remember unless you REVIEW or CRITICISE me, I will never learn…. Thanks and please review or else….. my pink owl, I've decided to call it/her/him Ninja, will attack you and this time you might not be lucky enough to get attacked with chocolate potion….(I'm thinking about using vegetables ; GASP~!)**

**~bluebookbutterfly**


	6. Mr Weasley is Obsessed with Batteries?

I cracked up. Ginny rolled around the floor, laughing. Percy opened his gigantic mouth to say something. This made Ginny laugh even harder. His tongue was roughly the size of a small watermelon.

"Whnnn I tlllmummmm yrr ging to bebeseed. Stttopths numnosendee ad me bbncak bisk infasnt!" blabbed Percy completely. (_When I tell Mum you're going to be busted. Stop this nonsense and change me back this instant.) _

He continued talking incoherent nonsense words and when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs again, it was to no surprise. The noise Percy was making while struggling to speak could have been heard in London. As Percy heard the footsteps coming he smirked rudely at me, gave me a hand gesture that would have made his mother turn over in her grave, if she were dead, and then walked over to the door on his, sadly, perfectly normal feet. At that time I had a marvelous idea.

"_Accio Camera!_"I whispered hastily, pointing my wand at my luggage and flicking it.

My wand was luckily not so defective that it didn't summon the camera, but it hit Ginny in the head and then whizzed my way. I caught it. After that I put the digital camera on, zoomed in and then, precisely meticulous, I took a picture just as the person who was coming up entered. It was a man with red balding hair and startlingly blue eyes, Mr. Weasley. It was such an incredible picture; Mr. Weasley astonished at his sons appearance and delighted at the camera I was holding and Percy, mad with wings and a giant tongue. Fred and George would want additional copies and, probably, autographs. Percy was going to kill me! I kind of already had that coming though.

"Hi?" I said my stomach feeling weak and squeamish at the sight of an adult who knew full well that I had hexed Percy. I bent my feet outward. I do that when I'm really nervous. Or I start giggling uncontrollably.

"What's that you're holding? Does it run on eclecticty? Or those little can thingies? Uh…_batteries?" _Mr. Weasley said, delighted, with the art of a school child at a spelling bee, guessing and then receiving the right answer.

_I couldn't believe it._Apparently Percy couldn't either, as his mouth fell agape, leading his tongue to loll out, giving him an irreplaceable troll look on his face. Mr. Weasley looked at me expectantly, so I gave him the camera.

"It runs on batteries. So are you mad about…?" I nudged my head towards Percy.

"What?" Mr. Weasley looked at me, slightly confused, and then saw Percy, a look of understanding dawning on his befuddled face.

"Oh. Erm, about that… I think the counter curses are the two spells Episky and Evanesco. But the tongue…"

I shrugged at Percy, who grimaced, and then performed the two spells. Then I saw what Mr. Weasley meant. The tongue that had a minute ago just been a watermelon size was now gone. Gone. Gone. Okay, I get that I need to face the reality, but looking down Percy's throat where his tongue use to be did not just bring me a feeling of whoops-I-messed-up- againness, but also a slight feeling of side along apparition style nausea.

"Nothing a little Restoring Draught won't fix up… I might be worried about his behavior towards you afterward," Mr. Weasley said, still inspecting the camera with wondering eyes.

"Ooh! Percy has no tongue…George; I think we should be more careful around Scarlett in the future."

"OW!"

"Oww. Now my knuckles are sore. Look what you've done." I glowered at Fred. Or maybe it was George? I still have not inherited Stella-esque ninja skills that way. The twin smirked obnoxiously.

The twins had arrived and were now sitting next to a laughing but tired Ginny. Mr. Weasley showed them the picture, on my camera. Percy's eyes were glaring furious evil daggers at me and the twins were smiling at me in an amiable, yet creepy, way.

"Mr. Weasley, I could hardly expect a difference in the way he acts towards me. Being friends with the two siblings who go out of their way to make trouble for him kind of already puts me into the disliked/disturbed category," I said, smiling and looking pointedly at the twins who had their arms around my shoulders...

**A/N: The lack of reviews is making me uber-frustrated. so, if you are reading this, PLEASE review. Thank you to the four people who have been reading AND reviewing (well actually only occasionally, but still, at least they do). I'm sending Restless-Soul1, ISungMyOwnSong, Kukaburry, and fireisprettybeafraid, cotton candy trees. I would send myself one too, but that would be cheating. I mean you can't exactly review your own story and gain from it, right? R&R! **

**Also... could all my readers please take the time to go to my profile and answer the profile question. It would save me a LOT of writing.**

**Thanx,**

**~bluebookbutterfly **


	7. Pink MafaldaandLook Who Passed Out Again

**A/N: Anyway, I hope this is a good chapter. I'm kind of stuck in a corner, figuratively, with my writing. I'm becoming immensely discouraged about all the other stories I read and how much better they are…. ****I'm also freaked out because I'm having idea overflow and I want the main character to be called Mia. ****I also realize that this is a different chapter then the last chapter 7, for those of you who have been reading. That's because I realized I left a huge chunk out of this….so here it comes…**

**Disclaimer: Even though I haven't put this on in a while, maybe out of hope, maybe by accident, here it is. I do not own the Harry Potter series and any of its characters and specifically now, I do not own Mafalda. Mafalda was J.K. Rowling's creation, but she was cut during editing and replaced with Rita Skeeter. (I got her off of J.K. Rowling's official website) I only own Scarlett, Alli, Alex, Emma, Nina (if you don't remember her don't worry) and Stella. **

**Chapter Seven: Pink Mafalda and Look Who Passed Out Again **

"So, Stella's little sister Emma is starting Hogwarts year, right?" Alli said through the mouthful of food, still chewing her breakfast roll and looked at me expectantly.

Her brother Alex grinned and motioned to her food stuffed face. I smiled. It takes serious skill, which only Alli has, to eat a chocolate croissant, managing to get chocolate in all corners of her dimpled face and to still keep chucking various food items into her mouth.

I nodded at Alli. I was thrilled about it actually. Emma, who was around the same age as Ron, Fred and George's brother, would be coming to Hogwarts this year. I loved how Alli could practically read my mind. But, it was to be expected: Alli was like a twin sister to me, except maybe a bit more hyper, which if you know me well enough, is scary. However, her hair was more blonde than my reddish blonde locks and her eyes were dark green. Sadly, while we used to be the same dress, shoe and pant size, both of our bodies had "developed" more, leaving her looking slender and feminine and me rather skinny and tall. Alli was also a muggle. She knew I was a witch, because I had been at a weeklong sleepover at her house when I had received my letter. Making her royally miffed.

It was two weeks till school began again and it was my second day at the Weasley residence. I'd been spending most of it with Alli so far though, because she lived in the muggle village near their house. She was super energized, because she couldn't wait to meet the twins. I'd sent her a picture that I'd go of them with a digital camera I'd given to George for Christmas. He was incredibly amused and didn't get how it worked at first, so I'd demonstrated. Completely like him, he had managed to destroy it within ten days of getting it. I was supremely pissed at him afterward, and he had excused it with the very annoying excuse of 'A gnome nicked it from me.' Back on topic again, Alli thought that the picture was amazing and the guys were really cute. I didn't really talk with her any further on the topic. I'm not very into pink or any other girl defining activities.

As soon as Alli was done eating breakfast and had cleaned her face and dressed and redressed ten times in countless different outfits that all looked the same to me, but were supposedly different, we started walking over to the Burrow.

"Hey! You guys! Wait up! Can I come, too?

"I swear that is the same dress you were wearing when you started the whole fashion runaway model thing." I turned to Alex and high fived him. He grinned at me and draped an arm around my shoulder. For all of you, who are gushing and going 'Aww', forget it. I am more likely to go out with the giant squid then Alex. He might as well be my brother and just as a general rule, for those nitwits out there, you don't date someone who knows all of your most embarrassing secrets and remembers quite clearly when you peed in your pants when you were two.

"Well then, if you're going to be like that! And we can't all be as unclothes related as you. What a tomboy! I can't believe I know you! I swear you only brought one pair of jeans and like, three t-shirts. Let's not even go to the discussion of your shoes…" huffed Alli and glared at us. I lolled my tongue out at her and walked in what I supposed was a drunken manner. Alli looked at me and edged away slowly, pretending to not know me. We entered a forest, with trees everywhere. Majestic and tall trees were all around us. I kept walking straight, leaning on Alex, who was steering me towards the beaten path, which was scattered with damp leaves, dirt, acorns and slugs.

"I guess she'll just have to elope with one of the Weasley twins…" Alex said, "aren't they like obsessed with fashion?"

"No…I'm pretty sure that wasn't them…." I said looking at him like he was a person from an alternate universe. He held up his fingers in a peace sign.

"Oh. Maybe those were the girl twins. What were their names again? Oh, yeah! Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. From that movie…" I edged away. Alli linked arms with me and sighed looking at her brother in a moment of complete bewilderment…just kidding. By then, the two of us were completely used to Alex and his completely unboyish obsession with romances, especially Shakespeare.

"Romeo oh Romeo, where art thou, Romeo?" he recited.

"LA LA! LA LA! LA LA LA!" I tried to block out his voice and pulled off several large leaves off an astonishingly short tree, which was probably younger than me, to stick into my ear. I know, really mature. But then again; that's me!

"Ooh. She's hot. The other one thinks it can sing." Two familiar voices came closer to us as we approached the end of the dark forest we had just gone through. Oh no. It was them!

"Fat chance, George,"

"Why?"

"She's surrounded by two guys." George sighed. Then, giggled as we approached them.

"That's not what it looks like…"

"_Is one of them a girl?"_

"Oh my gosh. It is! AAH!" The twins came out of the trees, behind which they had been lurking.

"What is it?" The twins pointed at me, whispering to each other, with the air of two scientists observing a very temperamental animal. I stuck my tongue out at them and then wiggled it, wondering what a piercing would feel like in my mouth.

"Take me to your leader." I said removing the leaves, from my ears, and tossing them to the ground. "By the way, that was me singing. And only because he was reciting Shakespeare."

The twins looked at me, trying to figure out whether I was being serious or completely sarcastic and then turned to Alex, held out a fist each, fist pumped them and then smirked at each other, self satisfied. No idea how that is a good greeting or whatever, but boys will be boys… Oh god, I'm sounding like my mother. Then, I noticed something. Alli, who is normally the louder half of me, was standing there, stupefied by the twins. The guys were no longer chatting to themselves and now looked at her curiously. That is, the guys except for Alex. He knew her well enough, to his delight. I snapped my fingers in Alli's face.

"I can cut the tension here with a butter knife! LOL... umm… help?" It sort of sucks when there is an awkward silence, because you never know whether it is awkward because no one knows each other or whether it's one of those deep spiritual moments.

"Okey dokey. So, this is Alli, my best friend and my evil half, and these are Fred and George Weasley." Yep. Everything was still quiet and awkward. I mean, I've always known that Alli was good looking in a guy's perspective, but seriously….

_You're just jealous._

AAH! Who is that? I had a voice inside my head, as of now. I wondered whether the voice could hear me talking.

_Yes, I can. Don't change the subject. You think Fred is really mega hot, don't you?_

"AAH! Going to hide under a rock now. This can't be good for my blood sugar level~!"

I ran to find a rock. Suddenly, realizing that everyone still wasn't staring at me, I decided something must be up.

_Wow. Full of yourself much? You're such an exhibitionist sometimes. Yeah right, you're not the center of attention for a change. Get a grip with that._

Okay. Okay. HyPerventilating. So, I get a voice, for some bizarre reason, and then it has to be a sarcastic and nagging voice. Whenever I need that I can see my grandmother. Why not an encouraging voice? Sometimes I could really use a little positive self esteem. Anyway, as my brain was piling up with thoughts as fast as dirty laundry underneath my bed, the twins seem to have struck up a conversation with Alli and she was fluttering her eyelashes at them flirtatiously. Alli had long eyelashes. Her eyelashes were wiggling. Everything, everywhere, wiggling. I narrowed my eyes, trying to get the world back into focus.

_Uh oh. You're going to pass out, soon._

Why was the world so blurry? I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands. Oww… it stung.

_Probably better to close your eyes before rubbing….just saying…_

Okay. I closed my eyes and rubbed. I tried to tear them open, but nothing would work….

"What type of girl faints when she meets you two?" a clear, bratty voice said, lacing ounces of pure poison into her speech, yet giggling when the twins commented.

"That's Scarlett. She doesn't always pass out when she sees us!" Yes! In your face snobby, bratty, wart hoggy, perfectly annoyingly, poison lacing, bitchy, hag scaring witch! At least one of the twins cares enough to comment. "She just passes when she doesn't get all the attention she needs or when she runs into something. So basically most of the time."

Forget it. 'So basically' none of the twins give a damn about me. I feel so loved.

_He has a point, you know. You are sort of self focused… ignore what I said…. AAH!_

"What an attention hog! I could never be like that…..I just like to share," Curse you! Swearing after little Miss Bitch who awoke me out of my fantastic dream about me and…. Probably won't help.

I unlocked my eyelids out of their currently permanent squint and looked around groggily. All around me there were books, vile looking potions and people. The books were piled high, with such unnerving names as; 101 Ways to Cure the Subconscious with Pickled Narglewart juice, Finding the Inner Karma and Fighting off Fainting Frenzies with Potions. I peered out over the books, which were admittedly not piled that high, and saw that I was in Ginny's room. I was lying on her bed, being gazed down upon skeptically by a poster of Gwenog Jones, and my bare leg was stuck out underneath the cover in my customary sleeping position.

Frowning to myself, I slipped it back under the snuggly warm covers. Suddenly, I felt a smallish hand squeeze mine and I saw two large brown eyes staring at me. It was Ginny and she was, very much in character, rolling her eyes at the annoying girl next to the twins and smiling at me toothily. I'd missed her so much. She was like the sister slash twin I'd never had.

_Ha ha. Don't even act like you weren't thinking of recruiting Ginny for your no good gang of evil hooligans._

I'm guilty. Kill me if it bugs you.

"Hi, Ginny. Who is little Miss Bitch over there?" I said to her glaring at little Miss Bitch, who was wearing a long pink hippy dress, pearl necklaces and a winter style pink hat. She was actually quite pretty, with long auburn curls and almond shaped grey eyes. But she was wearing pink mascara. I gagged…pink. Ginny giggled as she heard my description and began explaining.

"Her name is Mafalda, but she said we should call her Mally for short. Even though she looks like she's flirting to high heavens with Fred and George, which I really don't get: she is actually sort of related to us. I think she's like a step sibling of a cousin twice removed or something. I can certainly see why she's removed, but still…. Mally is staying all summer!"

"Come on Ginny. Leave Scarlett alone! She probably has better things to do then talk to you," Fred or George groaned from the door. I poked my tongue out at him. Mally looked at me imperiously and draped her arm over one of the twins' shoulders.

"Leave her alone, Fred or George. Poor girl only has brothers! I would DIE!" I pulled Ginny into a protective hug…

"Wait, doesn't that mean you're already dead? Don't you have like 4 older brothers?" Ginny asked quizzically. Fred, Mally and George snorted at me.

"Five and they are actually step siblings... But now that I think of it, yes, Ginny, I would be dead. " Mally nodded her head annoyingly and smirked. "Ginny, I think you are still the worst off though..."

"Why would she be?" Mally said smiling at me cruelly, reminding me more every minute of an effortlessly gorgeous Cruella (from 101 Dalmatians).

"She has Fred and George as siblings." I said, fighting evil with evil. Ginny grinned widely and I gave her a high five. The twins looked slightly, but only slightly, pained.

"Well… at least Ginny can acknowledge that she has siblings, even if they are slightly, well…." Mafalda smiled at Fred and George. Oh my gosh. She did not just go there.

_You know, you don't own teasing the twins. It's not just your thing. _

"Hey, you guys. I just woke up from a self induced hyperventilation comma. You can't expect me to acknowledge that I have step siblings." I grinned at myself, glad that I had reached a point. My heart felt warm on the inside, happy that I had not failed my competitive nature.

"How's my favorite sister's best friend?" Alex asked, entering the room in a swagger making it appear slightly crowded.

"Amazing, now that you're here…" I said sweetly, smiling up at him, and stretching my arms out to hug him. I winced; deciding it probably wasn't the best idea and just gave him an air hug. Fred scowled.

"Where's Alli?" An all too familiar voice said as I opened my mouth, gapping at the person speaking, shocked down to the bone. It was Mafalda. Alli was _my_ best friend.

"Alli is in the kitchen, helping Mrs. Weasley cook something, but apparently she's failing."

"Can I come down, too? Ginny, where did you put my stuff?" I said, getting up or at least trying to.

"No, I don't think you should go down yet. Molly isn't sure about the pickled Narglewart juice and its other side effects, but I remember reading in Magical Creatures of Great Britain that it leaves people dizzy, groggy and in constant pain." Mally said as she exited, aiming a last spiteful glance my way. I flipped her off. Luckily, no one other than Alex and Fred or George were left in the room so I didn't have to apologize, not that I would have meant it anyway. The two guys eyed me awkwardly and then left the room.

_Please don't tell me you are actually considering going down there. Oh no. If you pass out one more time, I'm…._

Regardless of the warning, my 'voice' had just given me I hopped out of bed. I was wearing the same gray tank top I had been in the morning and a pair of black denim shorts. I looked around for my backpack and my stuff and walked over to it, got out a glucose meter and an insert strip and pricked myself. Grinning, I let the drop of blood land on the test strip and looked at the display screen. Okay, I was good. Dropping my stuff, back into my backpack, I sat down, dwelling further into my backpack looking for a hairbrush. When I had found it, I attacked my bleached red blond hair viciously, oblivious to the pain that my brushing caused. Finally, after reaching a level of momentary satisfaction, I bundled my hair into a messy ponytail. Reaching for my wand I used it to quickly remove all the leaves and dirt that seemed to clutter my tank top like it was a magnet. Then, I walked slowly out of Ginny's room, down the stairs and towards the Weasley kitchen.

"Oh my gosh, Fred! You are _so _funny!" Mafalda said, to my absolute delight.

"I know, right? He's hilarious." Alli repeated Mally, lapping up her every word, giggling at Fred nervously.

"So, Fred, tell me about Hogwarts," Mafalda said,

"Well, it looks like a castle, the ceilings are enchanted and there's this really awesome ghost called Peeves. Scarlett, George and I always love to fool around with him, pulling pranks and such. In fact once-" Fred smiled, I could hear him do it as he spoke, and I knew he would have gone in if Mally hadn't interrupted.

"- I'm a prankster, too! Oh, what a coincidence! So what pranks have you done?"

"Hi. I've decided that I'm all better, now," I mumbled, feeling dull and bland as I heard Mally's flirtatious tone, obviously lying, or so I hoped, entering the kitchen to a barf worthy scene. Fred was sitting on a stool stirring a sauce in a saucepan (_Duh! What else would be in a saucepan?)_ and Mally had her arms draped around him, smiling flirtatiously. Alli stood there, looking kind of lost. Where the hell was Molly?

"Are you sure you're feeling better, Scarlett?" Mafalda said, a mask of pure concern clouding her face. I smiled back at her, false sweetness everywhere, and nodded. "I was just telling Alli here how I wanted to invite you to the all girls sleepover I'm having tonight." Wow! She can lie through her teeth.

_We don't all get tongue tied like you, sweetie…._

How do you know that?

_What can I say? I have connections. _

"Thank you so much for inviting me. Where are we eating?" I asked Fred, who looked at me, baffled at my sudden cheeriness. Ah. He knows me too well.

"Oh. Outside. Mum has decided that there isn't enough room in the house, so she's helping Charlie and Percy set up the tables in the garden. I grinned at him and walked outside, holding the plates with one hand and yanking Alli outside with me with the other.

Near evening time, I bundled together my blanket and brought my stuff up to Mafalda's room, which was up in the attic. As Ginny explained to me, Mafalda's parents were a wizard and a muggle and they had just recently come back from a three year long business trip in Paris and wanted help introducing Mally back into Wizarding society. She would, to my immense joy, be attending Hogwarts the next year as part of an exchange program, with her school, Beaubaxtons. Molly and Arthur, despite bad experience with Mally's parents had decided to take her in for the summer.

Her room was decorated with some admittedly pretty hot, posters of Quidditch stars and the room had a musty attic-like smell to it.

_DUH! It's an attic, genius._

When we entered, Mafalda was flittering around her room everywhere; plumping the pillow on her bed, folding a t-shirt, straightening out even things that looked fine already. Her bed was covered with a large pink quilt, with hearts and peace signs everywhere.

"Oh, hey! What do you wanna do?" Mafalda asked, looking like she'd rather die than do something we wanted to. "So, I was thinking we could start with a game of Truth or Dare. I asked little Ginny whether she wanted to come and she said she'd be coming but maybe later, so maybe we could start with Truth or Dare." Whoa. Mafalda seemed genuinely nervous, talking really fast and flittering like a social butterfly wannabe. Haha. Like I care.

_Hey. Be nice. This is the girl who invited you to a sleepover…. Despite probably thinking you are an obnoxious attention seeking bitch. I love repeating that!: D_

"So, Alli. Truth or dare?" Mafalda said, popping with the excitement of a first year.

"Truth?" Alli repeated, unsure and lost.

"Okay, how about…who do you like?" Ah. Typical. Everyone always starts out with that one.

"I like Fred Weasley… only sort of though… I really like this guy in my chemistry class… Julian Cormack." Alli said, as was to be expected. She'd liked Julian since 1st grade.

"What's chemistry class?" Oh boy… this was going to be a long evening…

"It's the muggle version of Potions Class." I clarified, rolling my eyes internally at her stupidity of the muggle world. Understanding dawned on Mally's face as she turned to me for the next truth or dare.

"Truth," I said alarmed at the way this was going. Didn't she know that in Truth or Dare the person who was asked asks next?

"Why are you flirting with both George Weasley and Alex? You might be hurting their feelings, you know," Oh dear. This conversation had definitely gone the wrong way.

_Stop getting off topic! What are you going to say? Think! Think! Think!_

"No. Why would I be?"

"You keep flirting with both of them. What a lying cheating bitch."

"_I _wasn't flirting. I was just talking. To a guy. Which you can't do without flittering your eyelashes or saying something cheesy." I said, trying to keep myself as cool as a cucumber.

"Take that back! I can SO talk to guys. I just do it better than you, that's all. Most of my friends are guys."

"Yeah. Sure. So you must be flirting with them all."

"I'm not the lying cheating clawing bitch!"

"You really are the most annoying, stuck up, bratty, bitchy, flirtatious, nice person wannabe I have ever met. First of all, you can't cheat on anyone when you aren't with anyone. Second of all, I don't like either Alex or George, and even if I did, it would be none of your business!" I burst out at her.

"You can't keep your eyes glued of Fred!"

_So true._

"Uh oh. Now is probably not the best time to interrupt is it?" It was Ginny, chewing at her lip and looking at me with a worried expression. I forced a smile on my face and told her everything was alright. Then, I flung myself past her, charging out of the room, running down the stairs as fast as I could, flinging the door of Ginny's room open and running smack dab into someone, hard. Tears were streaking down my face, smearing all the mascara Alli had applied to my face in a hurried attempt at making me dress me up for the sleepover. I had run into Fred. Quickly, I turned around, running downstairs, one more level, till I got to the quiet bathroom, locked the door and cried, sitting on the toilet seat.

_Why are you crying? Shouldn't you be really pissed? You are one messed up little witch!_

My subconscious slash voice knocked me out of my oceanic world and I got up from the toilet seat and went over to the mirror, using water to dab at my black gray streaked eye rim. Nothing came off. Frantic, I began violently prodding my eye with my wet finger.

_Duh. You're supposed to use something like lotion, baby oil or Vaseline. _

Yup. I have one really helpful subconscious. Where am I supposed to get all that stuff? Deciding that the illegal choice was probably the best, I decided to use my wand and some simple charm work. After doing that I sat on the bathroom floor for a while till I heard footsteps.

"Hey Scarlett, are you okay?" Dang it! It was Fred. Why did people keep turning up at the most random moments, when they are obviously not wanted?

"Yup," I croaked out, popping the p, my voice sounding unrealistically giddy and joyous, not at all like I had expected.

"Then why are you sitting in the bathroom, possibly crying?" Oh crap. He has a really good point. Making something up, making something up, umm…

"The girls are doing makeup. Like makeovers. Scary stuff," I lied, my voice barely a whisper through the door. Hopefully he would believe me. It wasn't really that difficult, I thought. I hardly ever used makeup. Except for on special occasions.

"Are you coming out, already? Because I really need to go to the bathroom, bad." Fred said and through his voice I could hear that he knew I was lying to him. I giggled at his explanation and slipped out of the door, letting him in. Waiting for him to finish his thing, I sighed and thought thoroughly through what I was going to tell him.

"So. Make up. Scary stuff. Are you sure you don't want to tell me about it?" Fred had come out and was sitting next to me on the stair step, barely several centimeters taller than me. I winced and rolled my eyes.

"This is when I ignore you trying to act like an elderly brother figure and just nod." I said, contorting my face into a fake scowl.

"Hey! Well… I guess you're like the younger sister I never had."

"Umm, what about Ginny?" He frowned at me as I confessed this apparent fact.

"Oh crap. Don't tell her I said that…please,"

"What do I get?" Me and my devious little mind.

_Wait are you implying… ooh la la…_

Wait! No of course not!

"That jar of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. (I nodded) Yeah, well, it's yours now…"

"I watched you hex those! Hooligan!"

"Exactly." Fred said grinning, laughing about my hooligan remark, probably remembering the first train ride on the Hogwarts Express. I poked out my tongue.

"How about Exploding Snap, then?"

"You're on!"

**A/N: READ AND REVIEW! THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE OLD CHAPTER SEVEN. READ ABOVE!**

**~bluebookbutterfly**


	8. Birthday Girl Gone Goth

**A/N: While I realize many of you (the readers) are too busy to comment, please review, even if it's just a line. I would like to edit some things and explain them. Since it is now 2010, I may occasionally include references to objects, styles or people that did not live or had not been invented in the year that J. K. Rowling intended Harry's generation to live. This modest (and quite bad) story was not written by J.K. Rowling and is therefore a slightly AU compared…. I also added some objects to illustrate more clearly what I was thinking… anyway, you'll see in this story…..**

**DISCLAIMER: Do I look like J.K. Rowling?(don't answer that, that would be creepy) This story was written by J.K. Rowling and all characters belong to her. With the exception of Scarlett, Stella and Alli...**

I have skipped ahead to the **beginning of third year**, because that is where the action starts...muahahahaha

~passes around gigantic everlasting tongue coloring lollipop in various colors~

**Chapter 8: Birthday Girl Gone Goth**

Fred POV

"Scarlett… George, where-"

"-is she? I don't know, Fred! For the hundredth time, she'll show up already, the train can't leave without her, remember?" my twin replied, looking at me with an impatient manner, resembling my brother Percy more and more by the minute (AAH!).

"Gosh. I was only asking, because Stella looks like she's going to puke any minute if Scarlett doesn't show up. Wait, Stella, why do you care so much?"

"It was Scarlett's birthday four days ago, you nitwit. _Which you would know if you bought her a present._" Stella hissed at me, narrowing her almond shaped blue eyes at me in frustration. I looked at her, aghast that she had the guts to hiss at me and then smirked handsomely, in a manner that has yet to not make girls blush or swoon. True enough, Stella frowned at me, but I couldn't help but notice that her rosy plump cheeks were slightly pinker then they had been a second before.

"I bought her a present. It's just… it still hasn't….. Umm… arrived yet….." I said, lost for words, trying to remember what I had, if I had, gotten Scarlett for her birthday. _Oh yeah… the toffee Mum made… _

"Hello, is this compartment free?" A skinny, long legged goth girl wearing a short black checkered denim mini skirt, leggings, a black top and dark eyeliner and lipstick with curly strawberry blond hair in a side pony tail, came into the compartment looking very self conscious. Chewing on her lip, she looked at all of us, Stella, Lee, Alicia, George and me. Finally, when she was finished eyeing us in a manner resembling Professor McGonagall's she caught Alicia's eye. Alicia looked at her inquisitively and then suddenly jumped up and hugged the girl, gushing in a very girly fashion. Seriously, what was up with that?

"Oh my gosh… Wow! Where did you get those leggings? That looks so cool. Come in, luv," Alicia smiled as the girl came over and sat next to me putting her arms around her knees and grinned at me, revealing slightly crooked teeth and braces. _Who did she think she was?_

"You don't know who I am, do you? Or do you? Do you? Or do you just think you do?" the girl started talking to me in a sweet melodious yet hyper voice. In an instant I recognized who it was… Only one girl could drive me crazy just by repeating the same line three times… WHAT? I was checking _her_ out… I composed myself, slowly and very difficultly…

"Scarlett, happy birthday!" I said seriously, attempting to keep a straight face but laughing anyway when I saw Scarlett's facial expression: her usually scrunched up nose was scrunched up even further in a cute but obnoxious way, her eyes were crossed and her tongue was lolling out. She rolled her eyes.

As soon as we calmed down I asked Scarlett the question that had everyone waiting on the edge of their chairs.

"What did you do?"

Scarlett looked at me, strangely, and then noticing my wandering eyes, whacked me in the head with a Charms book she was studying from. Typical: studying outside of school…

"Well, it was my 13th birthday Friday_, as I'm sure all of you know,_ and I decided I wanted to try out something new. Plus, my grand mum came…uggh… and she was driving me crazy complimenting my style, the way I do my hair and that I don't wear to much black… voila. Last but not least, I got black leggings for my birthday and I couldn't wear them with color, because…. It's just not right!"

I snorted inwardly at her presentation, standing up in front of us and motioning, and her ending statement about fashion. Heck, some days if I didn't tell George not to, he would wear his socks with his sandals…. It also seemed like a better summary for Scarlett's apparel was 'I'm Scarlett. I do this sort of thing. A lot.' I had dozed off in my own amazingly dreamy boy way when I heard Scarlett scream my name. I snapped out of it, fast.

"Ahem… FRED! Where's my birthday present? Remember last year…?"

And I did…

* * *

_Memory from First Year, around May…. Scarlett POV again_

_I was sitting on George's bed, next to Fred, Lee, George and a narrow faced boy called Tony. It was almost midnight and we were playing Exploding Snaps and occasionally Truth or Dare, in the boys' dormitory. Girls were allowed into the boys' dormitory, boys weren't allowed into the girls' dormitory, logical right? I was sitting next to Fred, on George's foot, and we were just talking and I was failing, epically, at Exploding Snaps. _

"_Scarlett, mum just wrote to ask when your birthday is. She said she would make you toffee... she also said I should ask you since I've known you so long and you know embarrassingly many more things about me than I do about you," Fred said to me, grinning his charming twin grin at me. _(Even in that year he could get any girl to do stuff for him… that is, any girl except me.)

"_Guess… I dare you." I smirked._

"_Umm, well Katie's is in May, because we had that amazing birthday party where we tried__ Firewhisky__ and Stella's is in June and you're probably younger than both of them, right?" Fred spoke unsurely, looking at me with a lopsided smile._

"_Why do they look older than me?" I said laughing at him, daring him to say what I know he would…_

"_So, your birthday is in August, then. Well, they're both kind of older looking…"_

"_Yes, my birthday is in August, on the twenty-eighth, but stop changing the subject. That was a really lame answer by the way. Duh, they are older looking, but really Fred… why?" I spoke again, pushing him closer and closer to the edge of the bed. He tried to resist, but I was stronger. Years of hard work swimming had finally paid off… _

"_You're kind of less..."_

"_Less what? I dare you…"_

"_You're kind of less matured physically…But you're ten times cuter…" Fred added as an afterthought, smiling at me in a matter, that would have made most girls melt like butter under a hot knife. "You're also way more immature than them in general, but…" He whispered under his breath._

_A pillow flew his way. He frowned at me evilly and I could hear his devious brain whirring awake…_

"_Pillow fight!_

* * *

"Did you even get me one? After all the work I put into getting you two those Argentinean fireworks and the Peruvian Dungbombs... " I shouted and looked at Fred and Lee closely. Fred looked to his brother for help, but George was too busy flirting with Katie to notice. Lee was looking out of the compartment door, pretending to be searching for the trolley.

_Ooh. You're a real toughy. LEE! Focus...gosh, children..._

"You're only thirteen this year though. I'm turning fourteen in two or so weeks… do you have a present for me?" Lee piped up, trying to weasel out of the situation... _wimp. _

_But you didn't get him a present, did you? ( sly smirk)_

"Anything from the trolley, dears…" Lee jumped up from his seat and skidded eagerly to the food trolley lady who was looking worriedly at the situation. I leaped up, too, pulling myself up to my full height, a centimeter or so beneath the top of Lee's head. He glared at me and I pushed myself past him.

"Hello. Could I have that bag of licorice wands and…" I turned around to look at how many people were in the compartment. My gaze flickered right past Fred and Lee, looking as innocent as puppies, as I counted the number of people in the compartment. "-and seven of the Everlasting Tongue Coloring Lollipops?"

_How can you punish puppies? Especially with those eyes... those beautiful eyes..._

"Aren't you Jenny's little girl? Jenny Winterbourne's?" the trolley lady looked at me closely, scrutinizing my every feature. I smiled at her and noded.

"Yeah. That's my mum and you are? Wait a minute. Aren't you my aunt, Julia's, best friend? Didn't you attend the Norwegian School of Magic with her?" The newly recognized Ms. Mason gave me a bag of licorice wands and ten of the lollipops. I handed her a 10 Sickles and a Knut. I reached out to give her three of the lollipops she had given me by accident, I presumed.

"Happy Birthday, darling. Take the lollipops, they're free. Send my love to your aunt and your mother won't you? Anything else from the trolley?" the trolley lady said, smiling at me warmly and looking at Lee, who was standing behind me. I shrugged past him and gave Alicia, Stella and George, each a lollipop. Then I took one for myself. It was a really deep blue color and tasted like fudge.

Fred grabbed a lollipop out of the bunch and I attempted to rip it out of his hand, but in the end, he got the stick and I got the candy. He tossed the lollipop stick at me and it got caught in my hair. I ripped it out forcefully and a chunk of my hair came out with it. I groaned and Fred smirked at me lazily. UGGH!

_My hair~! You are never going to be the same again..._

"Give me a present and I'll give you the lollipop." Blackmail is sweet.

To my immense surprise and displeasure, Fred stood up and reached up to retrieve the luggage he had stowed up there. I rolled my eyes and put in my head phones. Soon the beautifully pulsating beat of the song I was listening to, but honestly can't remember the title of, filled my head. Finally, Fred had heaved his luggage down and got out a large package wrapped in silver paper. Then he heaved it back up and tossed the package on to my lap.

"What the bloody hell is in here?" I said for the thousandth time, unwrapping what must have been the millionth layer of wrapping paper. Don't you hate it when people wrap it like that? Still cursing, I took off the last layer, a plastic wrap. It was toffee!

Sure, I really do like toffee a lot. Even though it's basically just sugar. Basically just being sugar doesn't really mean anything, because half of the things that are made of almost just sugar taste great enough to stuff into your face like a slob and get high off. Kind of like helium. Having really high voices is _amazing!_ Anyway, the toffee was really beautifully made and I could tell that Mrs. Weasley had been slaving in the kitchen for quite a while to perfect it. But, it was obvious that Fred hadn't really worked hard to get it. First of all, can you imagine Fred Weasley in an apron? Definitely not. Secondly, when you worked your butt off to even have a little money and then spend all of your money on Peruvian Dungbombs and Argentinean Fireworks, you can't help but expect more than just handmade toffee that you didn't even make yourself. I sighed.

The Sorting had already finished when Fred, George and I sneaked into the Great Hall. The prank was perfect. It was spontaneous enough that all the students would know we had done it, yet would still seem relatively normal to all of the first years. First years were always slightly nervous and it took them a while to notice whether something, such as a portrait of a mad wizard, was normal or whether it was just another trick that the magical building was trying to fool them with. I noticed Ron was trying to stuff mashed potatoes into his face while eating a chicken leg and I laughed at him. He stared at me.

"What? The food isn't going to run away, you know that right?" I said to him as he stuck out his tongue.

"You are SO annoying! I don't get why my brothers hang out with you," Ron said to me, his voice muffled by the mashed potatoes. "Oi! Pass me the gravy!"

I poured some gravy into his open mouth and he looked at me blissfully. So much for not getting why people hang out with me...

_ He has a point with that you know...just saying._

"You do know how wrong that looks, ickle Ronnie-kins, right?"

"But, that was perfect! How you knew exactly that I wanted gravy in my mouth?" Ron stared up at me in complete awe.

"Umm. I think, Ron, that's just because I've known you too long... and because you are related to George….."

"You do know how sordid your eating habits are?" a girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes said imperiously looking at Ron, clearly disgusted.

"Trust me, you'll get used to them, some time… or rather, hopefully not," I told her, smiling at her. She looked at me, surprised.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm muggleborn. I had one question about this school that the book Hogwarts a History didn't answer. Is it true that there is a curse on the Defense against the Dark Arts position? It wasn't mentioned in the book the Great Wizarding Schools of All Ages, either." _Whoa. Overeager beaver, much? _My inner Percy alarm was in frenzy. I kept my cucumber when answering though.

_Don't you mean the saying: I kept as cool as a cucumber? Never mind..._

"Well, two years ago the teacher was Professor Puddlemoor and he retired afterward, even though he wasn't very old, though I guess you could blame the Hair Vanishing Potion, Fred, George and I replaced for his shampoo. Last year, our teacher was a complete lunatic called Eva Price and she almost got her own office demolished when she taught us how to repel _Bombarda Maxima. _So yeah. I guess you could say that we haven't had a teacher for more than one year."

"Could you pass the pumpkin juice, please?" I looked away from Hermione's astonished face and to the person who was talking. It was the one, the only, the- Harry Potter. He looked tired, but very happy and gestured to the salt one more time, till I realized I had been staring at him for the past minute.

"Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry. I just froze up there, a terrible first impression. Well you noticed that didn't you? Now, all I seem to be doing is blundering like an idiot." I passed the salt to the thin, scarred, black haired kid and smiled at him, in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. He giggled in a very un-Harry Potterish fashion and I smiled.

"May I have your attention?" I glanced over to the speaker, Professor Dumbledore, his clear blue eyes twinkling as he announced that we should go to our common rooms. After finishing with some final, and very unusual, words, he stood up and chaos erupted. Well, mostly. The first years stood up to follow Percy and I caught Lee's dark eyes. I bit back a smile as we hurried ahead, to see what commotion our prank had caused.

First years were looking about, unsure about their present situation and the rest of the student just stood there, either laughing at an unsuspecting victim, or glaring at the sticky mess. Honey covered the whole stairway and the portrait of the Fat Lady, and the entrance to the Gryffindor common room was illustrated with a mustache made entirely of feathers and a diaper made of toilet paper. Luckily, the lady had not noticed yet and was too busy gulping down bottles and bottles of mead with her friend Violet to notice. Last, but most definitely not least, Percy stood in the glibbering honey, right at the top of the stairs and was shouting at the Fat Lady to open the door.

Finally, the prank was at an end, as brisk footsteps approached and the tart voice of Professor McGonagall could be heard conversing with the voice of a first year girl. It was Hermione. She looked like a miniature version of Professor McGonagall as she hurried to us before the professor and looked at Lee, Fred, George and me disapprovingly. Quickly, with less than a minute to spare, Lee and I used a Vanishing Spell to get rid of the honey, while Fred and George were busy tackling off the toilet paper with a jinx.

"WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON HERE?" thundered Professor McGonagall, as she saw the very confused first years standing there and caught sight of the four of us, standing there conspicuously.

"But… what? You… they- I- it was-there- what?"Hermione stood there all alone, trembling and furious at us. Her eyes glinted maliciously and then she composed herself.

"It must have been a mistake." Hermione lied confidently. I could tell that Professor McGonagall didn't believe her and rushed forward to help. Fred, Lee and George stood there as still as dummies

"Peeves. We came up here to find that he had put toilet paper all over all the portraits so we helped clean up. Hermione wasn't sure what to do so she came to get you, but we found we cleaned up well enough on our own. Thank you though, for getting help." I composed perfectly, like a speech before a class and all this, only because the supposed 'real' pranksters can't cover for their actions. Trust me, if I weren't part of their pitiful prankster gang, all the brains would be gone.

Professor McGonagall left without another word, however, I couldn't help but notice the smallest hint of a smile etched on her face. Hermione, still red faced and nervous stormed up to her dormitory after thanking me profusely. (Na. I'm just kidding. She never said thanks.)The Fat Lady still had a mustache and the guys really really owe me big time now.

**A/N:**

**Hello Reviewers, Readers and Non-reviewers,**

**I am having immense difficulty continuing to write this story, due to the fact that I have writers block, and the scene that I had in mind when I started this story is at the very end, so…..**

**Review! Please offer me any suggestions you have, along with ideas on how to continue this story. ALL COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED!**

**If you approve of me restarting my story, any name suggestions? What year should I start in? Any help is appreciated, really…**

**~bluebookbutterfly**


	9. Good Morning, Sunshine?

**A/N: Sorry if this sounds slightly bitchy, but if you put my story on either story alert, favorite story or add me to your favorite author/author alert list, then could you please review? I would like to thank Ima .soc****. razy for reviewing. You really made my day. Same goes for most everyone else. I'll post a list at the bottom of this chapter. This chapter is dedicated to Ima .soc. razy and to PrincessMersadi's, because you helped me overcome my writers block. REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: No, I DO NOT own the Harry Potter series. However, I own Stella, Nina, Alli, Alex, Scarlett and everyone you don't recognize. WHOO ME! Mafalda I partially own, J.K. Rowling had the idea and I put it into motion.**

**~passes around two bowls of sour and regular skittles… (those things are good =D)~ **

* * *

**Chapter 9: Good Morning, Sunshine?**

"So, what do the twins usually eat?" Mafalda, the pink obsessed evil cow asked, looking to the entrance of the Great Hall expectantly, adding a very worried statement under her breath, "Where are they?"

_WOW… she sounds like their mum. Weird. No, wrong…._

"They tend to wake up _really_ late. Late enough so that they have most of the sleep needed for the next year or so…." I said, fuming in my brain pessimistically. I was really pissed that Mafalda _had _to be in Gryffindor for the year. Professor Dumbledore had commented how practical it would be for her to be among familiar people and even though I saw his logic, it didn't mean I had to be happy about it.

"I wasn't asking you." Way to ruin my day, again.

"Yet still early enough to make it to class and proclaim, in the middle of History of Magic, that they haven't had enough sleep and 'would you please write notes for me, Stella….'" Stella added, smiling at me, trying to lighten the mood and looking at me cautiously, like a bomb about to go off. "Normally, they stuff just about everything they can get into their mouths…."

I remembered Ron, and looked over to see him, chatting, and eating simultaneously, with Harry Potter. Harry, caught my eye, and then blinked away nervously, obviously still unsure about my random conversation and the gapping at him yesterday. I speared part of a waffle onto my fork and popped it into my mouth.

"You hold your fork weird, you know?" Mafalda said, a slight lilt at the end of her speech, making a normally neutral conversation cross into the code red zone.

"What? Oh yeah. I don't know. I guess I just do…." I eat like a _normal _person. I didn't chuck stuff into my mouth, pour gravy and slobber it down, nor do I hold my fork weird…. I eyed her, baffled at her apparent need to find something wrong with me.

"Yes. When my dad was working in Paris, he was invited to some very important dinners. My mom thought it was necessary to learn proper dining technique. But, not everyone will know that sort of thing here, I expect…" she eyed Ron's shabby robes and looked around coldly. Right from the start, she seemed to have thought she owned the place.

"Yeah. Well…" Stella was trying to loosen the mood up again, "what's your favorite subject?"

"Advanced Intermediate Potions. I was the best in the class. It was just too easy. Transfiguring a tiger into an armchair really isn't that difficult…"

_Advanced Intermediate Potions! Holy crap. You can barely transfigure a porcupine into a pincushion without it squealing when it sees a needle….that was one funny class period…._

"You have advanced classes? That's amazing. So how does that work?"Stella asked incredulously. She was the smartest in our year and had even been offered to go on an exchange to Beauxbatons, but she had declined. Her parents hadn't been able to afford it.

"What! Hogwarts doesn't? Well, basically, if you are the top in your grade you get moved up a year, and are in the same class as people a year above you. Sadly, you can't skip three times, so let's say, if I'm in 1st year, I can't go up to fourth year to learn….." Mafalda lectured Stella, who looked only mildly interested. Suddenly, I saw Fred and George walk into the Great Hall, Lee following behind them like a lost puppy. Mafalda looked up eagerly. I stabbed my waffle with force, cutting the waffle into two uneven halves.

_Halves can't be uneven. That's the whole concept. A half is one EQUAL part out of two…._

Two tan and muscular hands covered my eyes. I groaned. I mean, how much worse does the day have to be without someone obscuring my line of vision and distracting me from my uneven waffle halves? Don't answer that. It was very rhetorical.

_VERY rhetorical? Sweetie, we need to work on your use of adjectives. It is either rhetorical or it isn't. Very does not exist in this realm. AAH! Your line of vision is being restored. Hiss….the light…..ha-ha I'm a vampire! Matches with Ginny's original theory at least..._

"Good morning, sunshine!" It was George (or Fred). I faked a grin, nodding towards Mafalda and rolled my eyes. He looked at me and nodded, thoughtful. SO! Aha! It _was _George! He had always been the more thoughtful twin…. But then, wait….where did my waffle half go? It was gone!

_It's not a half! It might be three-eighths of a waffle or five-eighths, but it is not a half!_

"George or Fred? Give me back my waffle half! I speared that myself, you know?" I exclaimed indignantly. The twins both turned to me and shook their heads, giving me the you-are-such-a-retard look I had become accustomed to and was reserved especially for me.

"I'm George." Said George, chewed up waffle in his mouth. I resisted the impulse to look away; I had to train for a WHOLE summer with my step brothers, so instead I turned to the other twin.

"I'm Fred." Said Fred, chewed up waffle dangling out of his mouth, too. Crap. They both had waffle in their mouth. How was I supposed to tell them apart and figure out which one had been thoughtful?

_They don't look exactly the same, you know. Stella can tell them apart and besides, one is taller than the other…._

Very helpful! If I could tell them apart I would! Why does everyone seem to think I'm stupid?

"Why oh why do you have to be identical?" I wailed at them, put on my best puppy dog face. That is, if a puppy dog was battling twins and was pissed at a pink obsessed cow. That would actually be kind of cool. "Do you guys have any distinguishing birthmarks or something stupid like that? No freckle counting though. That would take forever."

"Umm. Hate to disappoint you, but we are wickedly handsome, witty, hilarious, sexy-"

"-arrogant sods. I guess Sharpie will have to work then…." I chuckled to myself gleefully, rubbing my hands together mischievously. The guys paled. Oh, poor dears. They have no idea what I'm talking about.

"Umm…. Stella, what is a Scarpie?" Fred and George said in unison, creepily, looking at her nervously, as if they would hide behind her in case I attacked them with a 'Scarpie'.

"A harpy? Well in Greek Mythology-"

"A Scarpie. Scarlett threatened to attack us with a Scarpie." One of the twins said. Stella shrugged. She hadn't been raised by Muggles and she had never seen a Sharpie.

"A Sharpie is a permanent marker." I explained grinning at their unusual reaction. They still looked puzzled. "It's like a permanent quill. I was going to give you guys mustaches or label you with them." I shook my head at them and reached into my book bag to get out an old purple sharpie of mine.

"Excuse me. Here are your schedules." A clear, commanding voice broke the awkward silence that had ensued my Sharpie explanation. Professor McGonagall gave me my schedule and then took the Sharpie out of my hand examining it. After what seemed like ages of holding our breath everyone relaxed again as she handed it back. "Miss Smith-Weasley, please remember the guidelines. I remember quite clearly that I have told you, your skirt needs to be at least two inches, from where your fingertip touches, long. This is far too short. Please address this problem. Now, I'll see you in class."

Mafalda flushed bright red, because as Professor McGonagall strode away we had all turned to examine the offending object. I grinned to myself, looking down at my own uniform; long light grey stockings, a checkered black and gray skirt, a white short sleeved shirt and a scarlet and gold tie that hung loosely around my neck. I was very glad that Professor McGonagall had found out that Mafalda was trying to pull off a mini skirt and long legs look, especially when I looked at Mafalda's medium length legs. Mafalda glared at me as she caught me grinning and with a flick of her wand, lowered her checker skirt down till it was acceptable looking. Not that anything that slut wears will ever be acceptable looking.

_Hey now! Be nice. Though, way to go McGonagall!_

After jumping up cheerfully, receiving looks from a lot of people, realizing that my conscious had agreed with me, and McGonagall, I decided to look at my schedule. Marveling at the large free periods and the new classes (Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes) I grabbed Alicia's schedule and compared them.

"Okay, so we have Potions this morning, then Care of Magical Creatures, both with the Slytherins….uggh. Tomorrow, we start with Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw. Wait, Fred… are you taking Ancient Runes or Muggle Studies? Hmm. Okay." I said, grabbing Fred's and George's schedules and comparing them to mine, as well.

"Why aren't the two of you taking Muggle Studies? You could use it. Especially with your fear of the _Scarpie,_" I inquired, nudging the twins with my elbow and then cracking up at their pissed expressions.

"So if Ancient Runes is with Ravenclaw and so is Herbology, then we have Charms and Transfiguration with Hufflepuff and….Cedric!" I said, exclaiming the last part with Alicia and Katie, both reading over my shoulders by now.

"Gorgeous Cedric." Angelina said, sighing. Fred, behind her back, gagged. I rolled my eyes at him. He poked out his tongue. "Never mind, cute guys can wait. Are you trying for the Quidditch team again this year, Scarlett?"

"Yeah. Oliver probably won't let me play Chaser, because you guys already are Chasers and you are my best friends, as shocking as that might be sometimes." I told them rolling my eyes at the way the captain and the keeper of the team was disregarding me. Favoritism. "Besides, I might just stay on the reserve team."

"You could try for Seeker." Piped up Lee, grinning at me, flirtatiously. I wacked him in the head with one of his dreadlocks. But, I couldn't help but feel that he had a point.

"My brother Charlie left a year ago and he used to be the teams seeker so I guess you could try out." Fred or George said. "We haven't properly won a match against Slytherin in almost five years!

"What's so bad about the Slytherins?" Mafalda said, twirling a lock of her auburn hair around her finger. Collective gasps gathered around her as the whole Gryffindor table looked at her in shock. Okay, maybe, I'm over exaggerating. Maybe just the part of the table that heard her. Stella, the ever composed one, turned to her and explained.

"The Slytherins have never gotten on well with the Gryffindors. The original heads of the houses got into a fight and I guess we're still fighting. They also tend to be sneaky and cruel, teasing Muggleborns, making fun of half-breeds and causing chaos by bullying the other houses. Just like oil and water. They don't mix."

"Which one of us is oil?" Fred (or George) said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Which… one…of….us….is…oil?" Mafalda half squealed, giggling like a small girl. She smiled flirtatiously at Fred, who didn't seem to notice as he was very busy trying to make a waffle house. I glared at her. "But yeah, thank you so much, Stella, for explaining. You are so good at that. You'd make a great teacher."

Stella smiled at her modestly, even though I knew it had touched her heart. Stella had always wanted to be a teacher. Mafalda told everyone exactly what they wanted to hear. ARRGH!

"Stella, do you want to come back up to the Gryffindor tower with me? I think I left my stuff there." I turned to her and then found I was looking at an empty space. I look around for her and found her walking, no, being pulled out, by Mafalda. I glared after her, attempting to burn a hole into her back. It didn't work.

_Well, go figure. Stella is just nice to EVERYONE._

"Erm." The twins waved their hands in front of my face, apparently thinking I had gone into another daydream. I looked at them and giggled. They turned to each other, confused. Then, realizing nothing was wrong with their faces (yet) they turned back to me and gave me another we-don't-want-to-understand-you look. Then, I yanked the twins and Lee along with me, hooking my book bag over my shoulder and leaving the Great Hall without another backwards glance.

"Hey Scarlett!" Fred hissed over. I could tell it was Fred, because earlier that day I had scribbled some Sharpie on to his face in the shape of an f. I had decided to not do it to George, because otherwise I might get confused and mix up the g with the f. That and the fact that the Sharpie had been wrestled out of my hand by George and Lee, before I had a chance to maim either of them.

_They were very lucky, even though marking people with Sharpie isn't a good idea._

"What on earth? Fred?" I whispered to him, leaning over to him, nearly toppling over. Professor Binns didn't seem to notice, his head bobbing up and down, as if he were still just a wizard asleep by the fire. Fred motioned towards his empty desk and then feigned sleeping.

"Could you write notes for me?" Fred stage whispered back at me, causing giggles to erupt all around the classroom. I groaned and got out my quill and ink, prepared for another boring History of Magic class, writing notes for all my friends.

"Oh no, that's fine, Scarlett. If you don't want to be troubled, I don't mind doing it." Mafalda said, leaning over to us, whipping out another piece of parchment and beginning to scribble at it ferociously. I rolled my eyes, put my head back and resumed my daydreaming.

"Miss Winterbourne? Miss Winterbourne?" A wheezy, hollow voice said. Professor Binns was gazing down at me inquiringly. I nodded to let him know I was listening and then he continued on, slipping a small note onto my desk.

"The headmaster would like to see you in his office," Professor Binns claimed, tapping the envelope with his ghostly translucent finger. I made no effort to move. "He would like to see you now."

I jumped up, suddenly jittery and unusually giddy. A couple students laughed, but my face flushed red, burning. I took the note in my hand and picked up my book bag, exiting the classroom swiftly, as Professor Binns resumed his monotonous drone and began teaching again.

"What would he have to say?" I said to myself, attempting to reassure myself that all was alright. I had never been sent to Professor Dumbledore before. Sure, I wasn't the most well behaved student, but I had never pranked anyone seriously enough to cause real injury. I brought my index finger to the sides of my forehead, rubbing it around, trying to think of something, anything…that I had done. Someone coughed, and I turned around to see a tall boy with green eyes and tousled dark chocolate brown hair.

"Are you okay?" the guy asked me, concerned. I half smiled at him.

"Oh crap. Lovely first impression, huh?" I said, waving bye quickly, which was depressing as he was right in front of me. I rushed ahead, up the stairs and away from the complete stranger who must have thought I was crazy. I muttered to myself, "talking to myself, almost running into a complete stranger, who is cute, and trying to calm myself by rubbing my temples. Lovely first impression!"

_If you keep talking, he really is going to think you're a loon. Just saying…._

I had reached Dumbledore's office. Huffing and panting, I sat down next to the stone gargoyle that guarded it and got the letter out of my skirt pocket. Folding the crumpled note down, I began running my fingers across the blue ink.

_To Miss Scarlett Winterbourne,_

_The password is Licorice Snaps._

_Professor Dumbledore_

Huh? Seriously. That's all he tells me. How am I supposed to get into the office?

_Yeah. And YOU are the smart one. The password, you dimwit! Say it to the gargoyle…duh!_

I calmed down and slowly and steadily said Licorice Snaps to the gargoyle. The gargoyle leapt aside, startling me, and the wall behind it split open, revealing a staircase. I stepped forward and stood on the first step. Suddenly, the staircase started moving like an escalator. I smiled and began jumping up the steps. Eventually, though it stopped and I found myself in front of a large polished oak door, with a knocker in the shape of a griffin on it. I wasn't feeling so peachy anymore and when I knocked my fingers were shaky.

"Enter." said Professor Dumbledore, his tone serious and grave. The door swung open and I walked into his office. His office was in the shape of a large oval, with windows on almost all sides and portraits of wizards and witches all along the remaining wall. Professor Dumbledore motioned towards me to sit in the armchair in front of the large, claw-footed desk behind which he was sitting. His desk was strewn with papers such as newspapers and very official looking documents. He was holding a large red quill and a silver ink pot and he was observing a muggle newspaper called _The London Times _through his half moon spectacles. I looked at him inquiringly and he smiled. It was not an unpleasant smile, but it was a grave, pitying and serious one and I could almost feel my heart drop to my stomach.

"You are Scarlett Winterbourne, right?" he asked and I nodded from my sitting position in the armchair. He nodded back, as if he only seemed to be confirming the details. "And your official name is Gwyneth Cleopatra?" Once again I nodded, but this time I was really freaked out. No one used my official name except for when they were really mad at me and most of the people I knew had no idea that I wasn't really named Scarlett. How had Dumbledore, of all people, known?

"Could you fill me in on who your family is and where they live?" Professor Dumbledore inquired, looking at me as if in an interrogation. I nodded, shaking my curly hair back, and begun to speak.

"My mother's name is Jenny Winterbourne and my aunt's name is Julia Winterbourne. My step dad's name is Daniel Lyon and my step siblings are called Stephan, Thorsten, Thomas, Anthony and Benjamin. They have the same last name as my dad. And we live in Brentwood, near London. " I blurted out, rushing through the names as fast as I could. The look in Professor Dumbledore's eyes seemed slightly amused, but then he blinked and his crystal blue eyes seemed only full of grave news.

"Well, Scarlett. I'm afraid that you have just confirmed some very serious news. Yesterday evening, in a small cottage near London, many members of your family have been murdered. Your mother is alright, but she's slightly, well, shaken. Two of your stepsiblings survived, but they are in critical condition. " I froze. Professor Dumbledore did not seem surprised at my expression, and I couldn't help but notice a hint of remembering in his eyes. I couldn't feel anything anymore. I couldn't talk, and for all I knew, I probably wouldn't have wanted to either. A nagging feeling hit my heart, burning in a permanent black hole. A nagging feeling of loss.

**A/N: OOH! A cliffhanger. Well, sort of. Please review. Thank you to my reviewers…. **

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	10. GAH!

**A/N****: Read and review! Thank you to the reviewers from the last chapter. I'll list you at the bottom! Please acknowledge (big word here… ****) that while favoriting or alerting my story is awesome and makes me positively thrilled, a review would also be cool, so that I know what I'm doing wrong.**

**Disclaimer:**** Harry Potter does NOT belong to me. (Yet…..: D) The only people that belong to me, are those who you will NOT find in the Harry Potter books, and obviously the owl….**

**Previous Chapter Summary****: ( I've decided to put this on here, since I don't update enough for you to remember… frowns) This starts out on the first day of school, and Scarlett and Mafalda are bickering at breakfast, about when the twins would wake up. Scarlett threatened to color them with Sharpie, so she could tell them apart more easily, and then they got schedules. Basically, the usual. Afterward, later, Scarlett got called to Dumbledore's office to receive some dreadful news… well, read the last chapter.**

**~passes around pita chips (I'm getting hungrier whenever I write this) ~**

**Chapter 10: GAH!**

I could feel the metal clang underneath my tongue. Cold metal made up the braces that suddenly felt so tight. I eyed Dumbledore, nervously; remembering something Fred and George had told me. Dumbledore was known to be a bit crazy and enjoyed making unusual jokes, right? It was one of the reasons the twins actually listened to his speeches at the beginning of term feast. Maybe this was secretly just a joke.

_What's it going to be next, a conspiracy theory? A plot to assassinate you? Huh?_

Looking up again at the headmaster, I suddenly felt very small, and most of all- helpless. My heart was pounding fast, even though I had not been running. I was anxious, but why? It wasn't like anything could get any worse than it was. I didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be true. It wasn't true. It wasn't true. Memories flooding into my head, I remembered that as a toddler, my mum always told me that the best way to accept something was to face it, and learn more. I wonder whether she would say that now. They couldn't be dead. Not the siblings that had always bossed me around, teased me, but had, like my stepfather, always really loved me. No, it was too foolish to even ponder about. Dumbledore was playing some kind of sick joke, right? I looked up at him, hopeful. The last glimmer of hope was shredded, hopelessly, by Dumbledore's eyes. I stood up. I wanted out. I wanted to know the answer to helpless questions. Who? Why? What? And even though it sickened me… how?

_Eww! It might be more helpful to NOT know ANY of those things. Just saying… I'm just worried about you._

Oh great, starting with the matron attitude now! Sod off, subconscious mother! At least my mum- ignore it. Stay calm, Scarlett! You're safe. Nothing's wrong. This is ALL a dream!

"Would you like to be excused from the rest of your classes this week, Miss Winterbourne?" Professor Dumbledore inquired, breaking my thoughts. I looked at him, feeling like a small helpless puppy, muted and nodded. He smiled at me and did the most unexpected thing. He stood up from his comfy armchair, walked over to me and hugged me. It was thoroughly bewildering, but I was so glad he did it. The few tears slipping down my cheeks were muffled. Finally, when Dumbledore seemed happy with a calmer me, he sat down again. I turned to him and opened my mouth to speak.

"How…. Umm…. Who killed them?" I croaked out, cringing under the sickening image of my family dead. Dumbledore gazed at me, understanding. Why would he understand? Was Dumbledore married? Did he have children? Suddenly, I became all too aware about how little I knew about Dumbledore's family? But, still, how had mine been killed? Why would they want to? My family was an ordinary, run of the mill, family. Sure, we had our quirks, our fights and were definitely not lacking in either, but my family was kind, why would anyone want to kill them? Sick people.

"You family members were shot in an attempted break in. The burglars were not local people, but perhaps visitors from London. I do not believe that they were wizards, but as of yet, your mother is in too much of a depressive state of shock, to really be able to tell. Here, you can look at this," he handed me the newspaper. I read it, feeling sick to my stomach as the black and white words confirmed my fears. I pinched myself, hoping that maybe I would wake up from this horrible dream, this nightmare. To no surprise, it didn't help at all. If anything it made everything so much worse.

Asking to be dismissed, I stood up, and half running, went out of Dumbledore's office. He all but shouted after me to come into his office the next morning. I didn't care! I really didn't care! I didn't, I didn't, I didn't! My adrenaline rushing, I kept running till I bumped into someone. Well, more like fell-onto-guy-got-pumpkin-juice-spilled-on-me-began-sort-of-hyperventilating style bumping.

"Sod off! You guys, I REALLY don't have time for this! I'm not was kidding! Shit! Let me go! Bloody hell! I don't have time for whatever practical joke you need to pull on me!" I hissed at the boy, letting out another stream of swear words before realizing that the person in front of me was not Fred or George. The boy stood there, silently grinning. I blushed. Then, back to business, I narrowed my eyes, trying to find some recognition, but little crossed me. He was in Ravenclaw, I could tell by his robes, and he had blond curly hair and dark blue eyes. What the heck?

"Jeez, I'm sorry. My name is Robert. I just came over here to ask you something, because my best friend doesn't have the guts to ask you to the dance. I'm really just doing him a favor," the boy snapped at me, shaking his head as if I were a small child. I used the sleeves of my robes to brush of the tears on my face and looked at him quizzically.

"So, this isn't some stupid prank the stupid Weasley twins stupidly hired you to do? And you're not some randomly STUPID creep?" I asked, trying to appear as calm and kind as possible, while my temper elevated, I was still shaking with despair and fury. Robert shook his head. I had an idea. "Then, who is the guy?" Aha! I had him cornered at last. "Wait, there's a dance? Uggh! So NOT going!"

_You idiot! He isn't lying!_

"Quincy Adler. Apparently, you bumped into him earlier. He's had a crush on you since last year. He's a second year. He's so stupid and shy sometimes! I really don't know any more than that," Robert said, rolling his eyes at his friend. "And it isn't like you're amazingly hot or appealing. You're just you." He looked me up and down, checking me out.

I stuck my tongue out at him, lacking all maturity and elbowed him, hard. He smiled, adopting a teasing grin, in the likeness of Fred and George or my step brothers. At least, the way they had been. I sighed, depressed.

_Gosh! You're way too young for this! Pull yourself together. Run away! For all you care, he could have been a homicidal maniac._

But he's not! Besides, he made you smile.

"Robert, is she gone? Professor Snape passed a while ago, so the coast is clear" I heard a dreamy voice ask, as a short wavy black haired girl peered round the corner."Oh, whoops. Sorry, I thought you were gone. So, are you going with him then?"

I sighed, and saw two hopeful green eyes, probably Quincy's, looking around the corner at me. "Can I think about it? I'm actually going to be gone the next week. It's a family thing. Okay?" I eyed the three nervously, and then, ducked out of the broom cupboard and half running, half skipping, went back up to Gryffindor Tower. But only two footsteps on my way there, I turned around and did something that even now I can't really explain. I turned around, went back to the hallway with the broom cupboard, and went over to Robert.

"Thanks a bunch," I whispered to Robert. His two friends, Nina and Quincy, were staring at me, slightly dumbstruck. I kissed Robert on the cheek lightly, hugged Nina who was looking extremely confused and Quincy, and then turned around. I walked away, slowly. Why did I kiss and hug them? I did it, because in all reality, he had made me feel happy, despite the teasing comments and the whole dragging me into a broom cupboard incident. I guess he had reminded me, what it felt like to have friends. He had reminded me, of Fred and George, _my _best friends. Still devasted, but nevertheless lighter in spirit, I walked up to the Gryffindor Tower.

I walked into the common room, busy looking for Stella or George. Professor Binns's class should have ended a while ago. I thought I should tell them about the murders first. They had always been the most sympathetic of my friends. I saw Stella, sitting at a desk in the corner of the common room, busy writing some sort of essay or other. I decided it wasn't wisest to disturb her, unless I had a serious death wish. Death by multiple quill stabs. Stella was already freaking out about the whole exam thing, even though it was still months away. So, I sought George. The twin was sitting on the couch, reading Quidditch Through the Ages, and was very deeply absorbed with it, when I plopped myself next to him. His face and neck were completely unmarked, so I waited for him to talk.

"Hey, Scarlett. What happened?" He asked, closing his book and flinging it onto the ground. "Oh bloody hell. What's wrong?" George inquired, seriously worried now. I must have looked exactly how I felt, like a walking zombie. Shit. I frowned at this and then told him hurriedly. He listened avidly. I tried to smile at him, but my muscles felt frozen, and to my utmost delight, the tears were coming, too. George pulled me closer and hugged me.

"Hey, Scarlett! Where have you been?" Fred asked, coming in and looked at me and George in our sort of embrace. Something about his facial expressions changed and as he smiled again, it looked sort of forced. Whatever. I wiped my eyes, and turned around to tell him, when a depressingly too familiar voice came out from behind him. Narrowing, my eyes I saw it was Mafalda. She smirked, rudely, and slung her arm around Fred's waist. Ignore it, Scarlett. Ignore it. Biting my lip, I started to talk.

"Well, I went to Dumbledore's office and then he told me-"

"-oh, save it!" Mafalda cut in with a tone that was all business. I looked at her puzzled, as she went on. "I've already told Fred. I saw you snogging someone in the hallway to the common rooms. We DON'T want to know what else you did. Don't even start with your excuses. Fred was the one who wanted to see what they were. "

"What, Scarlett?" George turned and looked at me, evidently baffled, but unsure. I could feel my throat get dry and it almost clogged up entirely.

"I don't know what they're talking about."I whispered to him, hurriedly, a nagging suspicion in the back of my head.

" Shut up. We bloody well know what you've been doing. You've been acting like the slut you are, and you've been snogging the living daylights out of some Ravenclaw." Mafalda shot at me, an evil smile frozen on her face. I opened my mouth in outrage and stood up. Boy, if that girl wanted a piece of my mind, she was getting it! The first year and second years around looked scared and scurried together into corners.

_Scarlett! Just run up and leave till this cools down. It will eventually._

"My whole family just-"

"- I don't give a damn!" Fred added in, and glared at me with fury and a little something else gleaming in his eyes. I wanted to cry.

"Gee thanks! So, you don't give a damn that my whole family was murdered, and my mother is the only one who is unharmed, and she's on some sort of anti-depressive drug that won't be able to help her ever recall why? No, Fred, of course you don't!" I all but screamed at him loudly. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut in. "And I wasn't snogging him, it was a peck on the cheek. ONCE! Why do you give a damn? I've never had anything against you kissing all the girls in the school, if you wanted to!" I ran away to the very top step to the girl's dormitory.

" What's a drug?" Fred asked me.

"Why don't you ask Mafalda, now that you're so bloody close?" I ran into the dormitory and shut the door behind me. I fell onto the bed, feeling more like shit by the minute. And to add to my burden, I still had to pack. GAH!

**A/N: Five reviews, and I'll update! Do you: like it, love it, hate it? What should I do next? Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter:**

**Kukaberry: YAY! You found out! Anyway the Fred action will probably happen soon. Fred/Scarlett action will happen later, though. I have a very complicated story plot in mind. I'm still not entirely sure about it…. Sorry about the long wait.**

**Mille55: YAY! Now you know. Did you like it?**

**Miriflowers: AHH! No more death threats! Am I safe? Or should I hurry up with the net one? Not taking any chances!**

**THANKS for the reviews! Review! I appreciate suggestions!**

**~bluebookbutterfly**


	11. Madder than the Mad Hatter

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE**_

_HELLO AGAIN PEOPLE! I forgive you for doing a terrible job updating….. But here I am anyway. My writing style just got somewhat awkward when I've tried this chapter before… Here is a brief catch up about what happened in the previous chapter, so that you don't have to go back and look at it. (If you haven't reviewed, I think you still ought to go back and reread it and review) Summary: Scarlett was told by Professor Dumbledore that her step dad and her step family died in a murder. Some random Ravenclaws cheer her up, and she gives one of them a peck on the cheek. Mafalda sees them and tells Fred she's a slut. Fred gets jealous (duh!) even though they aren't boyfriend and girlfriend and they get into a big fight. HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER! I know it is short, but give me suggestions on what else to write and I will! Did anyone dress up as a HP character for halloween? I was Luna...so I just wanted to know..._

_~passes around a gigantic bowl of candy~ _

_**Chapter 11: Little know-it-all who is madder than the Mad Hatter**_

I had gone to the funerals. I had watched the various friends of my brothers and family members I hadn't even heard of shuffle by slowly, looking at me despondently, as if I were the one shot and lying in the coffins that gazed up at us. Family members who hadn't even bother to visit me when I was born. Wrinkled more through laughter than through actual age, a short old lady with thick curly brown hair had looked at me and even asked whether I wanted to live with her, in Sweden. Gesturing frantically to my giggling mum, who was gazing at the flowers as if they had suddenly leaped up and performed a jig, I had declined. Mum was really truly a hopeless case. If she took the anti- depressive drugs the doctor had prescribed to her, she was laughing about very odd things, and if she didn't take them, she was so sad that it pained me to look at her. But still, I would manage. If only Fred had apologized to me.

We had walked past each other countless times, him, surrounded by Mafalda, me, surrounded by heaps of books, and homework I had to make up. A couple times he had even said something, only to be rushed off by Mafalda, gazing at me disgustedly with a large Slytherin style smirk on her lips. If I hadn't known that Dumbledore sorted her into Gryffindor to be with her relatives in her exchange year, I almost would have said he was mad for not putting her in Slytherin.

The day he had actually apologized came much later, around November, when the wintery blasts of cold air had almost entirely taken over from the cool, colorful fall. I was sitting in my room doing my homework; my curly hair was going off into random directions, outside of the messy bun as if defying gravity. Already wearing my pajamas, a pair of boxers that I had borrowed from George ages ago and forgotten to give back, and a Gryffindor Quidditch jersey, I attacked an essay for Potions ferociously. Later, Katie would be winding her blond pigtails around her finger and would be assuring me that the way Fred came was actually rather impossible; up the dormitory stairs that were cursed to let only girls up. Or as I should say, blessed.

"Nice boxers. Who did you nick them from?" Fred said, eyeing me angrily, the way you would a dog that had misbehaved and had bitten the owner.

_Don't you wish he had bitten you? Bite me, Freddie-kins.* Bite me. Please!_

"George. So what?" I snarled back, taking up the defensive role and looking at him, precautious, madder at my annoying subconscious than him, even though I was pretty pissed at him.

"It really isn't any of my business, even if you sleep with half the school's guy population." Fred snapped, glaring at me, his chocolate brown eyes dark with rage and even something else… doubt? As an afterthought, he muttered, "even if it's not the better half."

"You are really the most cocky arrogant bastard I have ever known!" I yelled at him, looking at him with disappointment, as if I really wasn't sure that this was the guy I had been best friends with since first year. I continued, on a full war rampage, choking out the last part in a sob. "My step family was killed; my mum was in a psych ward at St. Mungo's, and yet still the only thing you give a damn about is yourself, the way others make you look, stupid pranks, making other people look bad, and, oh yeah….who I've slept with….which is really… NONE OF YOUR… DAMN… BUSINESS!"

Fred looked at me, shocked, as if he had actually had believed everything Mafalda had told him till then, and hadn't even the foggiest idea of what I had screamed at him, months ago. Then, in a voice full of spite and malice, he hissed at me. "I never believed that you actually went around snogging other people, like a slut. You know why? Because a little know-it-all who is madder than the Mad Hatter doesn't have a social life."

I slapped him. My hand stung. I looked at his cheek, red and raw.

"I had a life, you know." I gasped out, looking at him, worried about his cheek.

_What a goody two shoes! Honestly, you like him…_

"Well, forgive me if I don't think that drowning yourself in homework and sitting up there stuffing licorice wands and doing homework into your face is a life." Fred said, slightly unperturbed by my slapping him.

"I had a life, till you went on and became a bum and started acting like a bum." I sobbed out, glaring daggers at him, beneath the curtain of bushy curly hair covering my face.

"That's pretty logical, saying bum twice in the same sentence," he laughed cruelly, sounding completely carefree and arrogant.

"Oh, shut up! I wish you'd never been born. All you've done all my life is make fun of me. Bloody arse." I pointed out, sticking my tongue out at him like a little kid.

"Well, I wish _you'd_ never been born. Go tell someone who gives a damn…"

"You are the most arrogant sod-"

"Shut up. I want to tell you-"

"-that ever walked-"

"Scarlett, just shut up."

"the stupid planet and I hate-"

I was cut off as his lips crashed onto mine and his arms wrapped around my shoulders. His lips were velvety smooth against mine, and very warm, moving slowly until I responded, and then faster, urgently. Goosebumps erupted against my skin, the kiss was the kind described in movies, but it was _so _unexpected. I stopped kissing him, and stared at him. My tears were dried to my face and I had stopped crying. It didn't mean I was okay with him. Right? Hell, I was so confused.

_Girl, you are SO more than okay with him. That was amazing._

Fred looked to the ground, chewing his lip, nervously. I looked down to the floor, contemplating seriously what was wrong with him, or rather, me.

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

_I give up. You ARE hopeless._

"No, Scarlett, I just spontaneously go around snogging people. It's not like I got into a fight or a misunderstanding with them- or let's see-_liked them_." Fred commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes at me. The rage and doubt were completely out of his eyes and had been replaced with something more familiar. Laughter.

"You are a bloody arse. You do know that, right?" I said, and continued on in a complete to get rid of the silence. "I mean, we wouldn't want to waste all the totally arrogant charm, just because no one every told you that."

"I do know that. How else would I get the ladies over here?"

"Well, if we're thinking of ladies like Avery Hopkirk? Then, I guess…. Idiocy. An inability to pay attention. A complete and utter dislike for rules-

"- which you have, too-"

"-the ability to get good grades, despite said idiocy and inability to pay attention. Oh and let us not forget, the inability to go a day without laughing or pranking someone."

"Do you want to bet I can't go a day without laughing?"

"I did. Remember second year? You ended up flinging a piece of gum under the desk at Millicent Bulstrode's neck. And burst into giggles randomly while Professor Snape was explaining how the Draught of Living Death worked."

"You talk too much. Do you want to me to kiss you to shut you up?" Fred asked, jokingly. I blushed slightly and hoped he hadn't noticed.

"Honest answer?"

"Yes, please, madam."

"No. Definitely not. I think I'll go without talking…" I replied backing away from him fast and then crashed into a wall. He looked mockingly offended, so I pecked him on the cheek. As we walked down the stairs George came up to us.

"You two okay now?"

"Bloody hell, do you tell everyone when you're going to go up and snog a girl?" I said, rolling my eyes at him and leaning against George's shoulder.

"That depends."

"Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Have you guys finished the Potions essay, yet? " I asked, basically already knowing the answer. Fred and George shrugged, and both seemed completely unconcerned about their lack of homework completion. "Well, if you haven't then could you at least help me figure out whether he wants to know specifically how, when, where, who and why the sixteen essential ingredients in the Wolfsbane potion are so important or whether he also would like to know substitutions for each of the ingredients if you ran out of one of them? And, do you think he'll mind that I went an extra inch or two more than the required length? It's just my writing is so big, so…"

"Does she ever stop talking?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Have you even started your essay?" George whispered back to Fred, or Fred whispered back to George or something like that. Well, basically, I can't tell them apart.

_Except for when one of them is snogging you. Scarlett and Fred sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes gnomes, then comes pranks then comes snogging in the Great Hall. That doesn't rhyme…oh, brilliant…_

"Don't tell her, but no." The twins stage-whispered to each other.

"What am I going to do with you too?" I growled at the twins, and then, rather unceremoniously, slung my arms around them, and dragged them to the library. I knew Fred was right. I was a little know-it-all, and madder than the Mad Hatter.

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE**_

_Questions: What did you like about this chapter? What didn't you like? (be nice) What should I write about next chapter? READ and REVIEW...or else...actually...nothing else...you would probably get me back by telling me I update too little, which is true. So... READ AND REVIEW! Please?_

_~bluebookbutterfly_

_*Bite me, Freddie-kins was an unintentional sentence that is derived from the book that is Harry Potter's worst enemy and is very bad. I find the sentence amusing though, so it is staying._

_J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. What a lucky and amazing author!_


	12. No More Waffle Houses

**A/N: Sorry that its way overdue. Hope you like it. R & R**

"OWW!" Scarlett shrieked gleefully, flying through the middle hoop, bonking her head against the metal and dropping the Quaffle through the hoop. "You have got to be kidding me- that was awesome! Oh…pain…"

"Do you need me to kiss your head to make everything better?" Fred yelled up from the bottom of the pitch flirtatiously- though it didn't seem very much so, since it was below freezing outside, his teeth were chattering and he was, well, yelling. Scarlett grinned at him, ducked her head, and swooped down to a distance where she didn't have to scream her lungs out to be heard by him.

"Very appealing, but no. I think I injured Wood and he is looking somewhat downcast in spirits," Scarlett smiled at Fred, looked at a far less downcast and far more livid Wood over her shoulder and turned around and flew over to help him up. Oliver lay on the Quidditch pitch, clutching the shoulder in which Scarlett had rammed into as she tried to get the Quaffle into the hoop.

"Bloody hell, Scarlett. Are you sure you aren't trying out to be a human Bludger? If I ever see that type of aggressive behaviour on the Quidditch pitch again, except when we're playing against Slytherin, then-" Oliver's thick Scottish-accented voice paused as he began pondering how he could use Scarlett as an offensive mechanism for some probably partially illegal Quidditch move against Slytherin.

"Mr. Wood, please let me rest assured that you only meant the Slytherin part theoretically. I'll ask you not to repeat that sort of thing ever again or at least not for the next forty minutes, as you will be sharing the pitch with the Slytherin team." said Professor McGonagall briskly, eyeing Oliver Wood sternly. He only nodded. Scarlett rolled her eyes, wondering when the lecture would end.

"I saw that, Ms. Winterbourne." McGonagall said, looking at her imperiously, through her green eyes, before turning and walking to the other end of the pitch. Wood waited for her to be out of earshot, for some reasons unknown and then continued….

"If I ever see that behaviour again then-"

"Wait, why is McGonagall here? She didn't show up for tryouts last year or the year before..."

"She was here to select the next Hogwarts Quidditch commentator. Last year it was Lorcan Abbot, but he was a seventh year, so he left school. Anyway, if you ever pull a crazy stunt like that again, I will personally-"

"Who is the commentator this year then?"

"Do you _ever _stop talking? I will repeat this for the last time. If you ever ram into the keeper on any other team besides Slytherin, I will personally take you off the team. It could result in a bad-", but exactly what it could result in Scarlett never heard, because she hugged Oliver tightly as soon as he mentioned her on the team.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank youuuuu!" Scarlett shrieked delightedly for the second time that day as Oliver Wood handed her a Gryffindor jersey. Oliver looked her in the eyes seriously and for a couple very awkward seconds his intense dark green eyes penetrated her honey brown eyes as he glared at her strongly, as if he could, through some insane eye reading system, see whether she was the right person for the team. When he seemed happy, in his very insane own way, she spun around and ran over, still clutching the jersey ecstatically, to Fred, George, and Lee. Lee was looking slightly crestfallen.

"How'd it go?" Fred and George asked her, curiously, leaning over to see what she had stuck behind her back. Scarlett shot them a glare.

"You know what?" she shot at Fred and George fiercely. Lee seemed perkier than before, as if gladly anticipating the viewing of a Scarlett lecture, so she shot him a glare, too. "I am so tired of you guys being identical! I mean, I know you are twins and all, but it honestly isn't that funny."

Barely gasping for breath, she rambled on, "you know, Fred, if we're going to be ( she put her hands in the air and made quotation marks), together, then the whole twin thing is going to have to stop."

It was as if the twins and Lee had been holding their breath the entire time in nervous anticipation- when Scarlett stopped talking they all exhaled and started laughing. Soon even Scarlett was laughing. When all the laughter had faded out, Scarlett revealed her jersey to them and they all cheered for her.

"Did you get Seeker, Lee?" Scarlett inquired and started wiggling her eyebrows quizzically. She smiled at him.

"No. Apparently he already has someone- a first year. Can you imagine that? An ickle firstie gets to have the position instead of me." Lee replied bitterly, genuinely upset.

"Ok… I would give you a really extended hug, but you'd probably have to check with _him_," she jabbed her finger Fred's direction, "first. _He_ might get jealous…" She stage whispered, and pointed her finger at Fred, as if she were gossiping. He grinned at her and folded his arms around her. Scarlett smiled, and looked up at Fred happily. It was WAY below freezing, and now she was finally warm again.

"I reckon he might. But, it's worth the risk, isn't it?" Lee asked, giving her a cutie boy face and outstretching his arms her way, a little boy reaching towards his mother. Looking him up and down really slowly, she shook her head, acting as if she were positively grossed out.

"Just kidding." Scarlett stated matter of factly and hugged him sweetly.

"Really, wow. A lot of drama over not that much of a deal. The boy who got Seeker was Harry Potter... what did you expect? He's bloody famous! And Ron's friends with him…too," George, or at least the twin who wasn't hugging Scarlett- you never know, Fred might really be George- and that would make George, Fred,- stated looking as if he hardly believed what he was talking about.

"My, err- your brother Ron? _The _ickle Ronnie-kins? The one who said that famous people were only famous because of random things and they probably weren't even nice. Whoa. But honestly, Lee, maybe next time?" Scarlett said looking very dubious about the Ron thing.

"Well, I get to be commentator. McGonagall choose me…" Lee declared proudly and puffed out his chest.

"Cough cough Percy."

"Cough cough bighead."

"Vampires can fly!" Scarlett added at the end, receiving a look from the three boys that stated very clearly _what is the matter with her?_ "Err… never mind that. Can I see your jersey, Fred?"

Fred gave it to her and she gave him hers. "Thanks. Wow, yours smells really good." George and Lee gave the two of them very strange looks. "I'm just saying, errr… theoretically…"

"Ok. Team members please assemble here. Any non-team members are welcome to sit in the stands and freeze their butts off. Thanks. Yep, bye!" Wood shouted over the whistling wind, from way over on the other side of the field, kissing a black haired girl quickly and waving her good bye as she scuttled off the field. Lee looked as if he wanted to come over for the Quidditch team talk, but decided against it and he too bustled off the field.

"Ok. I want you all to leave your jerseys on the ground of here."Oliver said as he pointed to a spot near the corner of the field. "Now, this year we've got a couple of new players so I'm going to point at you, and I want you to say your name loud and clear please. I'm Oliver Wood."

"Angelina Johnson."

"Harry Potter."

"Fred Weasley."

"George Weasley."

"Scarlett Winterbourne."

" Katie Bell."

"Okay, good, our next practice after this one is tomorrow- don't forget- or you'll be off the team. We just _can't _lose the Quidditch Cup to Slytherin another year. " Oliver added threateningly, glaring at each player slowly in turn, as if they were secretly hatching plots to quit and make Gryffindor lose the Quidditch Cup. "So, you lot, grab your jerseys and go and change!"

Scarlett grabbed her jersey and started walking to the changing rooms, chatting amiably with Angelina and Katie about Quidditch and how serious Oliver was about winning, even –if not completely sincerely- threatening the players, something that seemed to Angelina to be "completely logical", to which Katie snorted and retorted "buffoon".

"Holy shit; I think I got Fred's jersey by accident." Scarlett cursed quietly, biting at her lip as she yanked on Fred's Quidditch jersey, pulled on her jacket and ran across the field to the boys changing room.

"But you can't tell Scarlett."

"That's surprisingly low even for you, Fred…" Scarlett heard Lee say, followed by snickers and then an odd sort of contemplating silence.

"What's surprisingly low for Fred?" Scarlett inquired.

" Blimey!What the hell are you doing here? Are you trying to look at us while we're naked, again? " George asked shocked, wearing nothing except a teeny towel that he had used to cover his body as he saw her. Someone behind him cursed a very crude swear word.

"Bloody hell no. The last time I was scarred for life already, without you shrieking like a pitiful girl. Anyway, don't act like it's that big a deal. I've seen you and Fred naked a million times without you worried about it."

"Hi umm Scarlett."

"Hi Scarlett. You do know this is the boys changing room and that this is technically punishable by the Quidditch guidelines, unless it is an emergency. Is it an emergency?

"Oh, hi Lee. So, what was surprisingly low for even Fred?" Scarlett replied, ignored Oliver's stern comment, and gazed over George's shoulder at Lee, who was wearing his school robes and looked altogether glum.

"Bloody fantastic." Fred muttered under his breath as Lee replied.

"Oh well nothing. You know. He stole my Quidditch jersey, because Fred's darn gone and lost his. And in the last five minutes, too!"

"Hi love, I completely understand the fact that you can't keep away from me for a single second of your life, but, as my twin stated; what _are_ you doing here?" Fred smirking in the way that Scarlett knew made normal girls swoon and faint. Her heart pounded a little faster.Only a_ little._

"Hello Fred. I came to give you your Quidditch jersey, which you would know if you had actually started changing…." Scarlett commented, smiling widely. Fred shrugged.

"So where- might I ask- is the jersey?"Fred asked, and Scarlett instead of replying took off her jacket, took off the jersey, stuck out her hand and waited.

"Nice bra." Scarlett looked down at her dark blue bra. Oh Merlin's baggy trousers. She'd gone and forgotten to wear something under her jumper. Scarlett looked at the boys around her, hoping they hadn't noticed, but realizing they had, as she saw that they all seemed to have taken a massive interest in various objects nowhere near her.

"Perverts. Give me the jersey…", Fred tossed her the jersey and she pulled it over her bra.

"So, was that really all that is extremely low, even for you? 'cause I know that you have an awful tendency to bombard my waffle towers when I'm not looking." Scarlett fake glared at him for a second, but then realized by his slightly guilty expression that something was wrong.

"Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell meee! Is it to do with George?" Fred pulled her closer, and she could feel his heart pounding in his chest, as he gave her a soft and sweet kiss on the lips, turned her around, and led her to the door of the boy's changing room. "uggh. You're not going to tell me, are you? I'll just leave then. No more waffle houses for you!"

**A/N: I wonder what Fred's secret is. Now that you've read it, please do review! Guess what the secret is! I can't wait to hear what you think. **

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	13. Oh yay! Or not

Hello readers and reviewers,

I am going to delete this story, because I want the plot to go into a different direction than the way I initally wrote it. I'm also going to correct a lot of the grammar and overall discrepancies, so that when I do repost it, it will probably be much better and quite different. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, please let me know if you think there is anything in particular I should change or something strange I might not have noticed. Without further ado, bye!

~bluebookbutterfly

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tell

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think...


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